Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf
by CoolyCakeCove
Summary: In an attempt to expand upon the NARUTOverse - but not an entirely serious way, Naruto Uzumaki is a redheaded girl named Monaka, and Sasuke Uchiha is a girl genius named Sanada Uchiha. This fix-fic has has all kinds of twists and changes so that it won't be a so similar to others, and its goal is to not only give characters their proper development, but to be a wacky story! AU
1. Episode 1, Beginning Arc 1

The story of the shinobi begins with the end of another's story.

40 years Archaic Ninja Age, there was a war between two groups who wanted the world. The first group was the _samurai_ ; the second was the _shinobi_. The samurai were people who carried bows on their backs, katana and wakizashi at their hips, and exuded a regal nature. Their creed, the Way of the Warrior, their _bushidou_ , was based heavily on honor, duty, and responsibility. The samurai were breed not to become extensively unique, but of a perfect warrior.

The shinobi were different. It was a group created by poor people who were mostly farmers with either makeshift weapons or farm tools to their name. Anyone who was agile, sneaky, and-or excellent in disguises and poison was automatically a shinobi, whether official or not. Eventually, the shinobi outnumbered the samurai - the samurai who focused long years on few pupils - and wanted to rid the samurai.

Thus began the _Bushi-Nin_ ( 武士忍 ) World War. It lasted three decades. The samurai had the upperhand for more than half the war until the shinobi made a breakthrough.

Senju Bushirama, a monk from the small Fire Temple, found the use of chakra, a mixture of spiritual and physical energies. That chakra was originally used during the monks' practice to harden their bodies or to calm their emotions. Bushirama, spurred by the war which killed his sons, found a way to use that chakra in combat. He then taught that skill to his young, only remaining son, Senju Hashirama.

Hashirama then found two other shinobi to which to grant this new and mysterious ability to. The first was Uchiha Madara; the Uchiha had a doujutsu called the _Sharingan_. That eye ability helped the man _copy_ Hashirama and master the ability just as easily. The second was Hyuuga Hiyomi; Hiyomi was referred as the _Byakugan Princess_ , utilizing her doujutsu to find pressure points and have a large field of vision. Hiyomi used that ability to highlight the weaknesses and monitor the flow of the chakra, which she eventually mastered herself. The three together became the _Distinguished Trio_ , and are the reason the Shinobi group won that war.

Today, 35 years post Ninja Era, Konoha stands as the strongest village where the Uchiha and Hyuuga live. The Senju, however, faded away, something reminiscent of extinction. On that note, their close ancestors, the Uzumaki, suffered mass extinction as well.

* * *

The story of Uzumaki Kushina begins with the end of another's story.

10 years Ninja Era. Uzushiogakure hosted the Uzuito Clan, the Uzumushirui Clan, the Uzukeishiki Clan, and, the most prominent, populous, and famous, Uzumaki Clan. All Uzumaki had pure red hair as red as cherries, newborn babies, or even blood. A full-blooded Uzumaki would have dominant genes for red hair, which the Uzumaki adored gratefully - their red hair could never be lost. Any person with Uzumaki red hair could be genetically traced down to the clan, whether the DNA makes up 80 percent of the person, or fewer than one percent.

The three other clans came from the difference in the hair color. Some had strawberry-blonde, ginger, or even auburn hair. If a baby was born without flawlessly red hair, could they still be an Uzumaki? The answer was no, and thus the subsequent clans were formed to classify the small minority without red hair. But the Uzumaki in no way discriminated the redless members; the Uzumaki made sure all clans share in the name _uzu_ or 渦, and all equally received the standard education: _fuuinjutsu_.

Fuuinjutsu is the study of seals and, _boy_ , were the residents of Uzushio good at it. They were the absolute best at fuuinjutsu, and few disclosed their secrets to the world (much to the world's anger). Another infuriating thing about the Uzushio clans was that they didn't make shinobi in an Academy (after all, one of the requirements to a hidden village is having a standard educational facility); a child at any age would perform a test for their ideal sensei and, if they pass, would immediately be apprenticed and become a "Genin." They would receive not a hitai-ate, but a bronze scroll imprinted with Uzushio's symbol and would carry that scroll around, never to open it until they become Chuunin (for a now un-openable silver scroll; a special Jounin would receive gold until they become Jounin). Nobody can ever tell any other person what the scroll has inside, only a vague idea that probably their sensei or family wrote the contents _if there's anything written inside._

The " _queen_ " of all Uzumaki was Uzumaki Mito. Married to the First Hokage, Mito left Konoha when he died and took some of her redhaired children with her so she may eventually die among her family. Mito's children were revered greatly, and when her children had children, they were treated as some kind of royalty.

Uzumaki Kushina is the great great granddaughter, first removed, of Uzumaki Mito and the baby of her family. Perhaps the only other person who could understand her anguish would be Uzumaki Mahara, the great great granddaughter, twice removed. And that connection was the mutual feeling of them wanting to accomplish something but had obstacles, not a very complex dream.

But such hopeful thoughts were encouraged during war.

One day, two months after her seventh birthday, Kushina and Mahara sit on a green hill overlooking their village. Uzushio favors white, traditional buildings with gold and red decorations and their spiral imprinted onto every column and building wall both inside and out. It's fun to watch the sea of red and few offshades that is the Uzumaki hair. Sometimes Kushina sees red faces, and knowing her people, it is always because they were angry. Her people are known for their "fiery" personality.

What Kushina loves most about Uzushio is the lakes and streams that pass through every part of it, and sometimes she can see eddies and whirlpools while walking home or having a bad day. Water, she thinks, is the best, _best_ element there could be. (Is it ironic that she has a Fire Release affinity?)

"Hey, Mahara-chan?" Kushina says to her family member lying down under the sky. "I really, really think we need to get a sensei soon. I mean, we've been seeing less and less of our own shinobi because of the war, and I hate sittin' around."

"Suppose so," Mahara sighs. "But, you know, we're different. You've ... you've got special chakra - everyone talks about it. It's not hard to see it. And I'm ... all I've got is my intelligence."

"Ya make sound like a bad thing, channo!" Kushina groans as she abruptly sprawls background beside Mahara. Kushina has a little habit of saying _-ttebane_ or _channo_ when she's upset or flustered because she tends to speak fast and think while speaking. Mahara also has a quirk of saying _-deyo_ or _y'see_ , though that's only because she spends so much time around Uzumaki who do have speech quirks.

(Uzumaki are _contagious_ \- hear about them, see them in action, or even talking about them gives chance to develop a person's speech quirk.)

"Intelligence isn't the best thing ever, book dumb. You know why? I hate Uzushiogakure."

Kushina stares at Mahara with a puzzled expression. " ... eh? Wh-What do you mean?"

Mahara closes her eyes. "All Uzushio Clans are just loud, obnoxious people who can't control their temper, and whose hair has them sticking out like a firecracker in a library. All I want to do is master fuuinjutsu, then I'm leaving."

Kushina can't take her seriously, particularly because Mahara is six going on seven, and she knows the girl isn't fond of social ... _anything_. Really, Kushina thinks of Mahara's opinion as a rant about being an introvert in an extroverted family. So, Kushina smiles. "Sure, Mahara-chan." The girl in question rolls her eyes.

It takes two more years until Kushina's story begins.

Now her Uzushio is _red_.

The red of hair and the red of blood; the waters were red, the burning buildings were red, and the Uzumaki lying unmoving on the ground sprawled in a pool of red, their hair perfectly blending into the color to make it seem as an extension - that was red. Only the bodies of Uzuito, Uzukeishiki, and Uzumushirui lying next to the corpses gave sign it is blood.

The Battle of Uzushio took seven days without pause. Three nations - Lightning, Water, and Earth set a diversion within Konoha so that it could not help its sister country. The Uzumaki were stubborn and had high vitality, but the sheer number and rapidly increasing army plus the decrease of fatigue shinobi for fresh one saw Uzushio fall. When Konoha shinobi could get to Uzushio saw either corpses, labelled missing Uzu-clan members (which would be presumed dead after two years), or, if early, tried any citizens, but only one makes it out, solely because of her protector who sacrificed her life.

Uzumaki Kushina was saved from death by _Uzumushirui Karuna_. Kushina knew that woman was indeed related to Mito more closely than she was - only the great granddaughter of Mito - but she had auburn hair, brown eyes and skin more like the First Hokage, only having Mito's diamond on her forehead. And whereas Mito would be around 90 years old, Karuna could be no older than 50.

But ... the thing about Karuna was, while others did treat her specially, she had a very, very large amount of chakra that almost felt scary to Kushina. How could a person have that much chakra and yet have flawless control?

Kushina had to get used to her abnormally large chakra reserves because the closest descendants of Mito hid together underground during the Battle of Uzushio. She had to get used to not only Karuna's chakra, but the fact a _first removed besides her_ aren't considered close to Mito, so her family never came to the shelter, nor Mahara and Mahara's family. It got even weirder for her when Karuna took her - _her alone_ \- and left while the rest of the members departed to provide a distraction they all knew they would not survive, all for _Kushina's sake_.

Was she grateful? As a nine year who couldn't see her family, friend, or water for seven days, _no_ , she was not _grateful_.

Kushina, crying, was tossed over Karuna's shoulder and forced to see her red-painted Uzushio for the first time, until Karuna managed to enter the forest nearby, obscuring her view. Now there was yet _another_ thing to worry about, another reason she can't control her tears.

"Stop, stop, STOP, channo! _Why is this happening_ , ch'no?! What's happened to Uzushio?!" the girl sobbed, hitting Karuna's back. "Stop it NOW!"

"Please, Kushina-chan," Karuna had whispered. "I will be forced to knock you out if you don't stop those noises - "

"I-I don't care! It's _g-gone_! Everything I knew is _burning_! Why?!"

"Kushina-chan - !"

"Stop her! Stop the jinchuuriki!"

"The Kyuubi jinchuuriki?!"

Karuna cursed under breath; she couldn't use her chakra because not only is there a lot, it's incredibly noticeable.

 _This is not very good_ ...

But she wasn't stupid enough to not think of a plan if anything went wrong.

Karuna created a flawless, seal-less Wind Clone for a distraction while Kushina and her real body Body Flickered a hundred meters away. It doesn't matter how far she goes - there will be scent trackers and it isn't ideal for her to led them to Konoha - she will deter them when the most _important thing_ is done.

She dropped Kushina to the ground who tried to see through her tears.

"Wh-What's a jinchuuriki ... ?" Kushina said in a still shaking voice, her brain just _not_ making the connection to the folklore and reality yet.

"If the Kyuubi dies during the war against countries with twice the beasts, Konoha is doomed," Karuna said instead, her hands slowly forming a tiger seal.

"What's that supposed to _mean_ , ch'no ... ?"

Karuna's brown eyes darkened. "I'm sorry, Kushina-chan. I knew we wouldn't make it to Konoha - not just by using stealth. Either the enemy stays until they are certain every Uzu is dead and Uzushio burned and I use chakra before the sealing to protect you, or I perform the seal on you now and can use whatever remaining chakra to protect you."

"S-Seal? What seal? What's _happening_?!"

"This wasn't supposed to happen until you turned twelve, until we knew you could handle this, but then Uzu was caught before we could notice ... "

She remembered that day. That day filled with tension as silent ravens and crows delivered coded messages to any Uzu outside Uzushio to come back home, even though she could see no visible threat. And by the time most of the Uzu were back home, by the time they caught foreign chakra, they no longer breathed.

"Kushina-chan, I unwillingly bestow this seal upon you, because your chakra is the most capable of storing the Kyuubi within." Karuna punctuated her words with flaring chakra her seal, giving birth to whatever jutsu she intended to make.

That sentence had everything click into Kushina's head. _She's to be the Kyuubi jinchuuriki?_ Stories of the _hateful, vindictive_ monster made her tears resurface, but she saw the way there were chains emerging from Karuna's back like angel wings, and how the golden chain plunged into the ground around them, sealing them within a barrier. Kushina gaped at the clear barrier that was designed to block chakra from leaking and once more to Karuna who now stared at her with empty eyes.

"K-Karuna-san ... ?!" She felt scared, a girl who was supposed to be mighty and strong because of her special, special chakra sat on her butt, had tear stains, and looked as pale as the white of an egg. She felt like a huge baby all over again. She couldn't move as Karuna knelt in front of her, performing more seals. "Please stop ... "

No response from the woman flying through the hand seals. Whatever made her become so detached that her friendly eyes looked like bleak vortices scared Kushina infinitely more than becoming a jinchuuriki.

Karuna hit her last seal: bird. "Uzumaki Art: Spiral to Spiral Seal."

 _What_?! Kushina didn't know anything about seals besides the basics and the thirty-two different kinds of calligraphy used to write a seal, and now this a seal without the usual ink and paper?

In her bewilderment, she did not see two spirals form under Karuna and her and the line used to connect them. She did see Karuna fall over just before red - _red_ \- covered her eyes and the only thing she could feel was her chakra being violated.

She could feel chakra pouring into body and centering around her stomach - like a tsunami crashing into a shore. Her entire chakra system was rearranging itself to encompass the foreign chakra, and even though the chakra collected inside the seal, her chakra was never, ever going to be the same again. As of now, her chakra was completely, and wholly, sensitive and uncontrollable. She could feel herself falling ...

 _No! Wake up, now, ch'no! Don't you feel that?!_

She opened her eyes to see a tired Karuna panting heavily - but she knew they haven't moved, not in the slightest - with chains gone and her still high chakra fluctuating because it didn't know how to function without that seal and, as a result, collapses in on itself.

Uzumaki have vitality; Karuna wasn't going to die just then. She did one seal and the diamond on her forehead blossomed into self healing jutsu that ate up Karuna's plentiful, chaotic chakra. The woman looked exhausted, yet beautiful with the vine-like markings covering her skin. Karuna grabbed three scrolls out her pouch - bronze, silver, golden - and put them into Kushina's own pouch she received from her sensei during shinobi training.

No, the gold still remained in her hand as she smiled bittersweetly. "It's funny how ... in my youth ... I was too arrogant to read these scrolls, and now ... as a Jounin, I never will. I don't deserve these scrolls, but ... I know you will. Without the comfort of a home and family and the obligation of being the holder of a beast you don't understand ... these scrolls seem unworthy to give to you with all the sacrifices you're forced to make."

Karuna placed the last scroll into the pouch and picked up the girl who could not move her limbs bridal style. "Now, we must leave ... that Wind Clone will soon become to unstable to exist."

Kushina couldn't do anything - her body was unresponsive; her body wanted to have her completely unconscious while it figured out how to keep her alive using the seal, but she was too stubborn to sleep. Karuna added upon more seals to fully hide their presence, and Kushina forced herself to watch. Her stubbornness kept her awake the entire trip to Konoha - a full three days with Karuna's _unstopping_ , top speed. Even then, the woman did not take the normal route, but the hidden route only used by ANBU and Root, which led into a secret base into the mountain.

As soon she entered the ANBU headquarters and could give Kushina to any person, Karuna collasped and her markings faded; another few seconds and multiple pulse and chakra checks indicated Uzumushirui Karuna was dead; a body check yield an official note soon delivered to the Hokage that held, among other things, Kushina's official classification: Mito's granddaughter, shinobi in training, the new Kyuubi jinchuuriki, and sole survivor of the Uzushio Fall.

* * *

The story of Sarutobi Hiruzen began with the end of another's story.

12 years Ninja Era. It had only been two months after the Second Shinobi World War and one year in total the Second Hokage, his sensei, had been dead. Only six months since Uzushio Fall. That massive lost to their sister country invigorated every shinobi who had caught depression over their Hokage's death. They wore red spirals on their uniforms into battle and came out victorious.

It's such a shame the Second War began all began with the smaller villages. Multiple, small villages wanted to become the capital of their land, the Land of Fire in which Konoha was located within. They felt as though Konoha wasn't true to the Land of Fire - that it should be symbolized by Fire Release civillians, not the best Water Release Hokage, or a melting pot of diversity that did not include Fire Release. They felt like Konoha was a joke.

Those smaller villages began to deal with the Land of Earth, Lighting, and Water, but a string of corruption, misinformation, and betrayal broke out, causing the three Lands of suffer internal war which eventually turn external. And their target: destroy the Land of Fire. Konoha truly had no idea what happened until five months within the war.

Now Hiruzen stands to lead Konoha hailed as the God of Shinobi. Within those ten months of grief until the war end, he was an unstoppable force, a practical juggernaut. Only in battle. At home, he showed off his sincere, kind, and wise nature made dull with grief.

He's scared, of course. A twenty-four year old man is terrified. He was apprenticed under Tobirama at twelve, independent by sixteen, and had his own team of Genin at seventeen. Now his team watches him as he places the Hokage hat and cloak and tells a sincere speech of his love for Konoha and his will to protect it. Hiruzen does not realize at this moment, would could occur almost twenty-five years from now.

* * *

 **SHINOBI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

 _This story chronicles the lives of Konoha shinobi. A redhead jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, a girl genius of the Uchiha Clan; this is a fix-fic with twists to make it less of a complete copy and more like something new. AU_

 **Episode 1**

 **A Preface Told in Bits and Pieces**

* * *

The beginning of this story started with the end of another's story.

One can say the end was simply the death of the Fourth Hokage's short reign; some say is was the very death attributed to the first war well before the modern shinobi of Konohagakure, a village hidden by leaves. Every shinobi does believe through the Fourth's demise, a very special person began their story, coincidentally this story beginning with life.

Thirty-five years during the Ninja Era, a name to mark the start of the modernization of hidden villages, a ferocious red fox attacked Konoha on the night of October fourteenth. Just the name, a "fox," isn't terrifying, however this creature had hands the size of the diameter of skyscrapers, as tall as mountains while being heavier than one, not to mention its incredible output of Killing Intent. From within fifty kilometers, a highly trained shinobi could only resist the urge to take their kunai and stab their jugular.

This fox was made with chakra more than ten times the amount of the entire village, and a deadly advantage of negative energy sensing, the process of sensing target due to how much negativity their chakra, person, or both, emits; from terror, anxiety, _wraith_ , they all constitute to negative energy.

That made the job to apprehend the red fox beast called the Kyuubi, the Nine Tailed Beast, completely grueling. Nobody could calm the beast, and survivors recall the beast's eyes being red in color with three tomoe spiraling, a matured Sharingan.

Fourth eventually came to relive Konoha of the Kyuubi and, using his life, sealed the terrible monster into a newborn.

... perhaps foreshadowing her life, the girl remain completely ignored (sans her basic, basic needs halfheartedly performed) during the three day funeral focusing on hundreds of lost lives. After those dismal days, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had to come out of retirement. Before he formally announced just that to the fearful Konoha, he officially met the girl for the first time.

The girl had redhair (whatever the old man could see) just like the Kyuubi, with three whisker-like birthmarks on her cheeks, appearing similar to a humanoid version of the monster sealed within her. She had been alive only for four days before the attack.

Hiruzen knew the girl was half Uzumaki. But being both an Uzumaki, a clan that was destroyed during the Second War and still carries a dangerous connotation, and a jinchuuriki, especially the one who murdered so many lives, was begging too much trouble to the girl.

He knew that Uzumaki woman had sealed the beast into her newborn daughter born on October tenth, but why, why did the Kyuubi escape four days later? The Uzumaki is a seal master in good hands, and _yet_ \- ?!

There had to be _fowl_ play involved, and the only lead there is: the Uchiha Clan and their Sharingan. It's painful to believe a clan that are descendants of The Distinguished Trio's Uchiha Madara would make such a painful and lethal attempt against Konoha, but there's nobody else to blame ...

It's only natural the Third banned all talk of the Kyuubi - especially any information reaching the generation of kids born on year thirty-five - and kept her entire identity secluded by only giving her a first name: Monaka.

* * *

The story of Monaka began with the end of another's story.

At the age of two, the orphanage no longer wanted to care for the girl, even after secluding her far more harshly than what the Hokage requested. She was not a troublesome child - she was afraid of other's attention, afraid to walk while the keepers were nearby, and afraid to even make any noises.

Her being alone almost twenty-one hours a day meant she was severely behind. She could not speak properly, didn't understand basic manners; that lack of information led to her getting into to more trouble by ignorance, which finally made the caretakers furious with the girl and demand her to be gone.

The spoke about her with words like "that thing" "that creature" "demon girl" while the only Monaka understood was their negative energy seeping out, something akin to the Killing Intent's effects except it did not hurt her. It felt like smelling stale air after walking through a clean forest. Secretly, it was due to the expert seal keeping in the beast on her stomach. Its property is to use both the beast and the girl's chakra to keep the seal working. With such a fragile body, the Kyuubi's chakra performs all of the work thereby making her chakra feel completely inhuman.

That _inhumanity_ made it so much easier treating her like filth. Civilian and shinobi alike can easily detect the Kyuubi's chakra pouring out the girl, and her fox-like appearance hardly helped matters. Soon, Konoha itself considered the girl not as a human, but as the Kyuubi itself.

* * *

The story of codename Jackal began with the end of another's story.

ANBU Jackal discovers he cannot run away from his past any longer. That revelation come from his mission: babysitting the four-year-old girl named Monaka. Unlike everyone, he doesn't hate her, but hates himself. Because it's all his fault the Kyuubi killed the Fourth, his sensei, and it's his fault so many of his loved ones had to die. If it weren't for his teammate Uchiha Obito surviving their last mission as a complete team with Nohara Rin's death - _sacrifice_ \- he might have lost it a bit more.

Jackal enters the apartment through the window with all the sound of a mosquito's bite; the aggravated energy of the Kyuubi is a lot less harsh since the last time he had to babysit her. As usual, a note is placed on the counter.

Sorry, but I cannot take that demon's chakra anymore! Please find someone else. Jackal tosses the note away.

He stalks though the cold, quiet, and tiny apartment to see the girl sleeping with a scrunched up face. It's cruel how no one could stand her presence so she had to be hidden yet again. He wonders just how much she's learned. Most likely nothing.

This not how he expected to spend his break after that whole Danzou-Root affair.

He sits by her bedside while the sky is a vivid blue, a prequel to fiery orange then yellow of dawn. Maybe Monaka senses his presence (how?) because she wakes up.

All she sees through blurry eyes is a man hidden behind a mask, eyes hidden in shadows, and decorated in a cold, blue uniform.

" ... who you?" she mumbles.

Jackal normally become a tad unhinged spending too much time with her, and is an absolute last resort, but with the events of last night, a few hours earlier, remains almost numb. "Uh, Jackal. I'm ... I'm your babysitter."

( _How does Obito chat so freely? This is why he does all the speaking_.)

She wrinkles her nose with least minimal effort. "Ain't no baby."

"Yes you are. You're a toddler. That's still a baby. A child is classified from ages 5 until 12, which is coincidentally the amount of years the Academy is open to children, so - "

She rolls over and places the pillow over her head - it is way too early for any big words she can't understand. Jackal sweatdrops at her reaction. Talking to others really bites.

* * *

It's a big risk sending the most hated girl to the Academy.

Any child born during and after year thirty-five have no idea what she is, so the children at a shinobi training facility and education would be more accepting; however, children mimic what their parents do, even if they can get pass her chakra that remains thirty percent Kyuubi free.

Plus, training a cursed girl as her has many people wondering if teaching a "ticking time bomb" the art of assassination is really such a good thing. Thankfully, some "genius" happily added that she's extremely likely to die in combat, which upset the Third tremendously.

But by being the keeper of the beast means she has to learn some way to defend herself. The Third walks into her apartment and catches her all alone, again, coloring. Closer inspection shows _all_ her drawing a colored by an orange crayon and none of them are colored inside the lines or even on the paper.

"Monaka, good morning," says the Third, unintentionally startling Monaka.

"It you again," sighs the six-year-old. "What, what?"

"You have to say 'good morning' back," he patiently replies, sitting down forty-five degrees across from her.

"What, what?" she repeats, awfully concealing her wish to see the Hokage frustrated. It's starting become a habit he does not like.

"Monaka, how would you like to join the Academy?"

"'Academy?'"

"Yes. To become a ninja and fight for Konoha."

She looks out the open porch doors giving her a perfect view of trees. "What 'Konoha?'"

"It's where you and I live. It's where the Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life for you to be a ... 'hero' to the village."

Her bright blue eyes meets his calm. "He ... ro?" It's a bit difficult for her to mimic the sound.

"A hero is one who leads others," he says, aiming for the simplest definition. "They're the kind of person others look up to."

The meaning rolls over her young head. She focuses her attention back on the forest, and for a girl with a short attention span, that worries the Third slightly, similar to an itch.

"Wan' Academy," she says quickly. "Don' like here."

Maybe she thinks of the word "Konoha" as home and her apartment as "jail." It's too difficult to tell how complex a child could think.

"Excellent. For a fortnight, I'll send someone over to collect you for school, then you must go on your own. Alright, Monaka?"

Monaka, again, looks at trees, with every time spending a spike in her chakra. "Uh-huh."

"Monaka, is there something in the forest?"

"Nuh'in, 'cept - " She slaps her hands over her mouth.

The Third arches a brow as Monaka quickly gets up and says something about her being right back before she heads for the forest. The Third does a quick sense of the forest, smiles at the results, and, deeming she'll be safe, heads off to deal with a much more ... dangerous matter.

* * *

The story of Uchiha Sanada begins with end of another's story.

On that eve of October tenth, the Kyuubi was controlled by the Sharingan; the only clan that could use that Sharingan was the second most populated clan in Konoha: the Uchiha Clan. Absolutely no one could believe that their own would cause this much chaos, but the town thought otherwise. The Uchiha Clan was already treated with wary with its members in charge of Konoha's Police Force and many speculated the Uchiha created the whole scheme of the Kyuubi as a way to profit for arresting "potential suspects."

The leader of the clan, Uchiha Fugaku, vehemently denies all theories and says the event must have been caused by someone non-Uchiha. The public retort a non-Uchiha can't utilize the Sharingan.

On the first week of August, it marks two days until the "anniversary" of seven years worth of isolation from Konoha and persecution.

"I'm home! Itachi-nii! Mom!"

Uchiha Sanada, after a long day from Academy, steps through her home to discover her mother isn't cooking or cleaning as usual, but sits next to her father, Fugaku, as she quietly talk to Itachi.

The seven-year-old doesn't get it. She gets her family and every clan member is hiding information from her, but last week, her world was turned upside down when her big brother Itachi was accused of killing Uchiha Shisui, both of the sibling's closest friend.

By the way the adults at the Academy avoid her like some kind of rabid dog also scares her. A murderer brother, a town who's she suddenly starting see hates her as well, _just what is her family_?

She hides, unable to hear anything, and waits until they finish speaking, in which Itachi finds her hiding spot easily: under the table next to the sliding doors. He smiles, a little, as he says, "Welcome home, Saa-chan."

She doesn't smile. " ... something's wrong, isn't there?"

"There is. But it doesn't concern you; you're completely innocent."

"Itachi-nii," she scolds, but does she _really_ want to know what's happening? She's curious, no doubt, but her fear is just as real. "I want you to train me to defeat my classmate - "

Itachi cuts her off with a gentle finger poke to her forehead. "Sorry, Saa-chan. Maybe next time?"

She covers the area he poked by a small, chubby hand. "Why won't you train me _now_ , Itachi?"

"I must fulfill a mission for the sake of Konoha and the Uchiha," he states, watching his little sister intently.

"You're barely a teenager! Shisui told me, um ... I know you wouldn't do that, but - "

"Sanada, come here, please!"

Sanada pales at her father's voice just behind the screen. Usually, he focuses heavily on Itachi and never her (unless it's to protect his baby girl), and now he's beckoning her? Her brother has an unreadable expression as his slips on his ANBU mask and stalks out.

That's not very comforting.

Why is her family so screwed up?! That small yet intense flare of anger helps her enter the room and sit seiza across the the wooden table facing her parents. Though young, they look very exhausted, but even when no one can see them but her, they still keep their composure.

"Sanada," her father says calmly, "due to Itachi's 'stunts' this past week, I have deemed him unfit to lead this clan."

Sanada had no idea hearing those words would hurt more than make her happy. Finally her father and her brother have more free time, but she knows without doubt Itachi is better than her ... which is why she trusts him with her life without hesitation or confliction. (Well, this is if Itachi doesn't finger poke his way out of everything; "Sorry I couldn't make the meeting; maybe next time?")

"However, there still must be some clan head, and I will teach you the prerequisites to leading our clan, Sanada."

She beams. To be able to do the things Itachi never had the time to teach her! "Thank, you, Father!"

* * *

The story of Hyuuga Hotaru began with the end of another's story.

In Konoha, there is a tradition named the "Shichi-Go-San Festival" in honor to celebrate the fact children can now make it until their seventh birthday instead of dying years before. On "San," the third birthday, the Hyuuga Clan honors their new heir for achieving three years of life.

However, that Hyuuga heir's birthday coincided with Konoha's peace treaty between Kumogakure, a village hidden by clouds located in the Land of Lightning as opposed to Konoha within the Land of Fire. Using that peace treaty signing as a distraction, one Kumo ninja stole the three-year-old heir to observe the secrets of the great Byakugan.

The heir was no other than a boy named Hyuuga Hotaru, son of the clan head Hyuuga Hiashi and, _rather oddly_ , an unknown woman who Hiashi refuses to disclose the information of. All Hyuuga members realize that the woman must be a Hyuuga or else their heir would have a hard time using the _doujutsu_ (eye technique).

Hiashi easily dealt with the ninja by punishing the man to death, but also broke the treaty he had no idea of. Without cold evidence that Kumo kidnapped Hiashi's heir, Kumo demanded the dead body of Hiashi to be delivered to the Raikage. These set of events created the _Hyuuga Affair_.

Three years after the affair, the heir Hyuuga Hotaru is forced to hide in a forest just minutes after the Academy ended for the day. Ever since his kidnapping, his relationship with his entire family took a nosedive.

For starters, his cousin Hyuuga Neji despises him for the murder of his father ( _for the greater good_ , they told Neji). Every day during practice - no, it's _less_ like practice and _more_ like one-sided beatdowns and tears particularly on Hotaru's side.

And the _tears_. He is a boy, a boy is suppose to be strong, confident, and able to lead. All Hotaru displays are shyness, low self-esteem, and vulnerability like that of a girl than a young man. It doesn't matter his confidence was destroyed the moment his cousin regarded him with utmost contempt; it doesn't matter his little sister, just two years younger than him, shows more prowess to lead and strength than a boy who's trained all his life.

And even though his family constantly talk of eliminating him from being heir and are openly disappointed or ashamed of him for his weakness, he does not cut his hair to symbolize he's defeated, though he acts that way. He keeps his long, bluish-black uncut in silent defiance.

... or so he likes to think, but now he must face the threat of children mocking his "pretty boy nature," and how easy it is to make him cry or stutter or blush all like a girl. All Hotaru does is fear talking to anyone and fears being acknowledged and all he wants to do is _give up because he is a failure,nothingmore -_

"Oh, princess! You can't hide from us, ya know!"

He whimpers. Not _again_. _Not again_. He can't move.

Something grabs his hair strong enough to pull him backwards from his hiding spot and rip a few strands of his thin hair. He looks up to see three boys in class smiling at Hotaru's tear-filled eyes.

"Looks like Princess is crying again!"

"That just ain't right! You's a guy just like us, so why you such a big baby, Princess?"

"Ya embarrassing us _real_ boys!"

Hotaru is too mortified to speak. Only tears leak out which aggravates the boys more - a vicious cycle. The boy who still holds his hair yanks on it. "Such a girly girl! Why don't ya just cut this off?"

"Yeah! No real man has waist length hair! Get _outta_ here!"

"Whatta crybaby."

The taunts go on and on and _on_. Hotaru is used to trying to hide all the time, it never crosses his mind to fight. Could he even if he tried? He's certain it would not work.

" _N-N-Neji-nii-san_!" Hotaru watches as his cousin walks past him going the opposite way without speaking. It's been three months since Neji started Academy and Neji's reactions with Hotaru grew more and more violent the more ninja abilities he acquired from the Academy. Hotaru stands there watching the fleeting cousin, hurt, but against all odds, follows his cousin. " _I-I-I'm sorry_!"

Neji turns abruptly around, smacking into Hotaru who gets knocked back while the older stands uneffected. " _As the heir, you're supposed to be strong. You're supposed to lead us and the very day we finally accept you as our heir, you get my father killed for your weakness! Sorry won't help a thing_!"

Once again, he can't stop his crying. " _I-I'm trying m-my best_ ... "

" _Try?! You're_ _**supposed**_ _to be a leader! There's no trying, there's only_ _ **doing**_ _! Whatever. I'm going to become strong and change the Hyuuga unlike you, Hotaru, who just wants to whine and complain_!"

" _I don't_!" sobs Hotaru, reaching for his cousin

who slaps his hand away harshly enough to leave a red mark. " _Silence, you pathetic ... pathetic waste of space! Get lost_!"

 _I'm sorry ... I'm so sorry_ ... Hotaru rubs at his ceaseless tears both caused by the insults of the bullies and his hurt cousin he can't begin to fix -

The boy holding his hair throws him onto the ground. Weakly, Hotaru lifts his head and, though his vision is blurry, can see something unmistakable.

 _Red_.

He rubs his eyes. It looks like whoever is here head is bleeding fiercely with all that red - no, it's hair. Red hair - he's never seen that before ...

"Whatta ya doin'?!" shouts the girl, cheeks scarlet.

"Oh, _ew_ , it's _her_!" One of the boys cringe.

"It's true! She really does feel _disgusting_!"

"Gross! Run away before she eats us!"

 _Huh_? Hotaru blinks. Nobody has had any interest in teaching him anything about the world he lives in for years, except the Academy, but he still doesn't get how a girl could be so scary ...

As she gets closer, he can feel her chakra. It feels poisonous and venomous; he wants to pass out from fear. But her face looks happy and innocent and, well, she did help him. It'd be impolite to run and scream from her. ... resist the urge ...

"Hi, nee-chan! Monaka!" She points to her chest. She hardly looks older than him, but they're both pretty short for their age.

Hotaru can't even manage a polite smile, exhausted from ... everything. " ... u-u-um ... I-I. ... "

"S'okay! Don' mind! Don' be upset!" The girl, Monaka, sounds more like a four-year-old than Hotaru's age of six.

" ... um ... "

Monaka picks him, he being slightly taller. "I gon'be Hokage, nee-chan!"

"H-Hokage?"

"Uh-huh! Hokage is ... " She thinks for a moment. "A he-ro!"

"Oh!" _And my classmates talked about her eating them ... how odd_. "G-G-Good luck ... "

"Yeah!" Monaka pushes both Hotaru's cheeks to make him "smile." "Nee-chan, if you no happy, I be there!"

"Y-Y-You don't have to ... "

She shakes her head. "I wan' be Hokage. I wan' help you! Smile~!"

She grins which Hotaru thinks is the most adorable thing ever - with sparkling, blue eyes, her somewhat mischievous smile, and her complete sincerity. Hotaru finds himself smiling as well.

"O-Okay!"

She giggles. "Good! See ya, nee-chan! Hungry!"

Hotaru waves as Monaka scampers back to wherever she came from. It's very enlightening to see that not everyone is ashamed of him. Then he freezes.

 _D-Did Monaka-chan call me "nee-chan?" Like ... a girl?_

* * *

The story of Uchiha Itachi begins with the end of another's story.

(Though one could argue that "end" was his _clan_ or that "end" was his sister's _innocence_.)

Sanada is home from the Academy much later than normal, but she so wanted to practice practice practice the things her father taught her and impress him to make him think she was the genius and not her brother.

On the twilight of August 3, Uchiha Sanada takes her first step into the Uchiha Compound and realizes something is wrong wrong wrong.

It's too quiet; there is no noise, there is no speaking, and, yes, her clan have been more irritated than chattty, and, yes, they go to meetings every other night that she has to stay home with just her mother, but this is too silent.

She continues the path to her house, now slow, now cautious, observing the appearances of the houses - but their outside is completely intact - and the lack of people.

Finally she gets to her house, her stomach hurting as she slides the door open and cannot say anything. If this were a meeting, then she would just be panicking for no reason and she and her mother can laugh it off until the men get back and she can train with her dad because there is nothing no nothing wrong

there is something very, very _wrong_.

The common room in her house usually has its porch doors open with a lovely view. That view is made warped by the ambiguity of night and shadows. That ambiguity creeps into her house. The world is one of three colors.

The unforgiving _black_ of night.

The cold, detached _blue_.

And the haunting of _red_ that dyes the floor and her brother's sword.

"I-Itachi-nii - ?"

Her brother's sword reflects the moonlight unintentionally (perhaps?) highlighting the objects just above that red dye. That would be her ... her -

Honestly, had she not been exposed to concept of "death" by the demise of Shisui, she would have thought something very naïve, such as her parents were sleeping and that red stuff was just markers or red ink dripping out from underneath. Sanada understands what corpses are.

"You ... you _killed my mother and father_?!" Her body is between two extremities: warm tears of sadness and trembling from her violet surge of anger (even her eyes burn like an inferno). "I _trusted_ you! I knew you didn't kill Shisui, but I was _wrong_!"

The common room in her house paints horrifying view of two siblings with a _bloodlust_ and two parents with _blood loss_. The color of blood is the same color of both of their Sharingan flaring. The world is one of two colors.

The _red_ of rage deeper than the sea.

The _red_ of blood she wants to see Itachi bleed.

* * *

The story of Umino Iruka began with the end of another's story.

That cursed Kyuubi slaughtered his parents and takes residence within a girl whose chakra still faintly drips with the beast's chakra. That girl remains in his class he's supposed to teach.

The class is called 1-D 1, with the first 1 symbolizing the beginning quarter, the D being the lowest class ranking, and 1 to symbolize what room his students are located in.

Twelve students catches his eyes.

Uchiha Sanada has a hallow look in her eyes, everyday haunted by the secret she is forced to keep and that her clan's massacre cannot reach the minds of young children.

Hyuuga Hotaru tries to make himself smaller, but a glimpse of hope fills his pale eyes when he looks at Monaka.

The next generation Ino-Shika-Chou trio remain unaware of the other's existence, most likely for the three to develop their skills independently as a shinobi.

Then there's the Aburame famous for their insects; the Inuzuka famous for their dogs (to which his Inuzuka student has no dog at his side due to its youth); and a civilian girl with pink hair similar to a cherry blossom.

Finally, there is the redhead, whisker-faced girl who is behind her six, seven, and even eight-year-old classmates in every way possible. Iruka thinks the only reason why she's here is to simply humor the girl, and with those thoughts running through his mind, Iruka, with the help of his old classmate, Mizuki, begins the first day of the Academy's second year.

•

Monaka admits her memory isn't the best, but she clearly remembers seeing her classmate Sanada staring gloomily at the reddish sunset and stops on the middle of the path to observe her. She can feel negative energy radiating. So, carelessly, she walks down the hill and plops next to the startled girl.

"Yo!" Monaka smiles.

Sanada glares warily at the girl, her chakra mostly her own. "You're in my class. What do you want?"

"You're the best in class, ch'no," she states. "I'm the worstest. So, I'm gonna beat you one day."

Sanada hugs her knees. "Why do I care what you do? Go away."

"I seen the way adults look at ya ... they do that to me, too. I wanna let you know ... I's here, 'kay?"

The only thing she knows about Monaka is that she looks weird, she makes Sanada's spine cold when nearby but her happy face betrays that hidden aspect, and everyone loves to hate her. Yes, it's true Konoha has never looked at her the same, whether it's pity or disgust, but she does not want to be compared to Monaka.

"I said go away."

Monaka notes her energy refuses to leave. "I don' like being alone. I'm here."

To Monaka, it feels less like her comforting Sanada, and more like Monaka subtly begging for someone to give her attention. All she wants is attention and Sanada's pretty close to her as it's going to get.

Sanada doesn't know why, but she feels _relieved_ then irritated because this _weirdo_ isn't a complete _weirdo_ (though she's still stupid and awful at anything in the Academy besides lunch - ah, Chouji beats her there, too). "Whatever."

Monaka is content she was able to stop Sanada's negativity for a moment. "I've gotta go! Needa talk to the old man! Bye, Sanada!"

Sanada refuses to acknowledge her until she knows she's gone. Then she sighs. It really is lonely living within her compound as the sole Uchiha left in existence besides _that man._

 _You're too weak, little sister_.

She clenches her fists and stalks off. She will bring justice. People will stop looking at her with those _looks_ , and she won't need to hide her past from her classmates. She will assassinate that man by those _eyes_.

* * *

This is the telling of stories that begin where one ends. The life of a shinobi is one filled with _death_ and _endurance_ , and those who cannot understand that fact will fall into _despair_.

This story chronicles the lives of Konoha shinobi.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Welcome to the rewrote SOHL, originally published on February 29, 2016! I'm a sophomore, so, yeah, I'm not that great at writing, but I do want to publish a book one day, and what better way to practice than to write fanfiction? I'm a pro a write essays from things to Literature, DBQs, and even lab reports, but creative, unique writing that isn't so bound like an essay? Tough. (Thanks War of the Worlds by HG Wells.)**

 **Anyway, the purpose of this fanfic is simply me trying to learn how to write a story by using a pre-existing one and flipping it on its head so that it isn't just a repeat. Sasuke/Sanada Uchiha is a girl because I wanted the crush problem between Sakura and Ino gone, and Naruto/Monaka is a girl because of: Naruto looks way too much like Minato and I wanted Monaka and Sanada's relationship to be like sisters just the canon brothers theme. There's a whole lot more changes, but I'll explain those (probably).**

 **Changed Hinata into a boy because I thought others might hate an all-girl team. Gave them all real names instead of weird/confusing names like Naruko, Sasuhime, and Hinato. Plus, shinobi references multiple, multiple shinobi while ninja** **忍者** **means a person who practices shinobi** **忍** **(shinobu, shinobi)** **者** **(sha, person), so ninja is used is used to refer to specific shinobi.**

 **Also, I plan to un-OP (overpower) many main bosses because, thought the fights are epic, aren't really ... enticing. There's no real ... threat, you know? I don't plan on Shippuuden happening, my goal is to just write about the first series until I'm satisfied with my writing style.**

 **If you enjoy this story, then keep reading! Else, I'm sorry I couldn't keep your attention, but you should read other stories that people worked really hard on! With nothing else to say, thanks for reading.**


	2. Episode 2, Beginning Arc 2

During the first year of Academy, it seems everyone found their motivation, their friends, and their rivals. The most noticeable change is the Uchiha. For some reason, all the girls in class adore Sanada because of her strength which they think is "cool" how Sanada still continues to grow and get stronger and would be the strongest kunoichi in class had her low scores in assertiveness brought her down to third place. Not to mention her enigmatic personality by keeping her family and anything outside Academy a secret.

Interestingly enough, the whole class is motivated by the Ino-Shika-Chou trio brought together by the friendship of Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura; that Sakura, _just_ a normal civilian girl, had managed to become top kunoichi with her impressive intelligence to the point she could understand Nara Shikamaru's higher-level knowledge. Sometimes she managed to get that lazy genius to work. Nevertheless, Sakura's appearance has created a family so close it could rival the previous generation.

Inuzuka Kiba and his puppy would much rather be outside in nature and away from rules, so he acts as a class clown, much to everyone's amusement and Iruka's annoyance. The girl holding the Kyuubi, Monaka, makes small talk throughout the year with Kiba, being the most fascinated by his antics. Their "friendship" isn't anything serious to Kiba as his mother will end him if she catches her son conversing with Monaka, but the latter is obviously thrilled about her first almost-friend (though he's nothing more than an acquaintance).

Iruka is glad the shy, little Hyuuga Hotaru manages to become friends with the quietest boy in the room, Aburame Shino. Shino is avoided because his bugs are quite _creepy_ as is his stoic expression hidden behind pitch black goggles and trench coat. Hotaru is very used to being avoided, and, at first, disliked bugs very much, but grew to like them (from a distance) bit by bit.

Finally, Monaka ...

It gets easier seeing her as a child rather than his parent's murderer. Mainly because she acts so very human (albeit naïve). She's so upbeat and nice despite Iruka being aware of the bullying, teasing, and isolation she is forced to suffer. And, even though it should be _justified_ his parent's murderer _suffers_ , he kneels beside a crying girl swinging under the shade of the Academy tree, not aware of his presence.

On the ground in front of them are Monaka's goggles that she refuses to do without, that lie broken and shattered; her clothes - just a typical, black Konoha shirt and greenish-brown shorts - is covered by dirt and grass. He saw what transpired and wanted to do nothing for her, so why does he pat her back?

Why does he say: "I know those goggles were important to you ... "

The girl hiccups, swiping away her tears. "Masked man give 'em to me. Said 'stay out of trouble.' Never seen him since, Iruka-sensei."

Masked man? It doesn't sound like a bad person, but Iruka thinks the girl probably has contact with malicious forces - she _is_ a person so close to a malevolent beast. "Oh. Then ... " He gets up to leave.

"Can you fix it, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka looks down to see a face staring back with wide, hopefully eyes and almost smiling mouth. How can she trust him that much? Why? It's been a year, sure, but even so ...

"If I fix these goggles, will you stop urging Kiba to play pranks for a week?"

Her eyes twinkle. "You're the best, Iruka-sensei!"

(Maybe those azure eyes possessed him because) Iruka scoops up the goggle pieces and works on them at his apartment once the Academy closed. It's not difficult. Being a ninja means carrying tools that can eventually get broken. A common saying is "5 years a shinobi, 50 years of medical debt." Sometimes it was better to fix rather than to buy something.

The very next day, Iruka gives the fixed goggles back to the girl who jumps for joy and even squeaks. (It's totally _adorable_.) Mizuki gives Iruka an odd look as soon as Monaka leaves.

"You're catering to the beast girl?" he says, eyebrow raised and has folded arms.

"I know, I know, but maybe she isn't as bad as you always say? What if the Fourth did such a great job sealing the Kyuubi it can't contact her?"

"Then how do you explain its chakra leaking out her?"

" ... I'm no seal expert - "

"Iruka." He smiles, something much more in character. "It's common sense, really. The goal is to get the girl to quit being a ninja and lock her up somewhere. You know she didn't kill just your parents, but the lives of many others. Children, elderly, the pregnant, the bold." Mizuki starts to walk off to class alone. "All we can do is ignore her. That's disproportionate retribution, if you ask me."

Iruka sighs. _I know, but still_ ...

* * *

 **SHINOBI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

 **Beginning Arc**

 **Episode 2**

 **The Beginning of Monaka No-Last-Name, Future Hokage**

 **Synopsis** _: Monaka and her classmates get used to their three years of Academy, but complications have them graduating early; Monaka is dead last and if she doesn't want to be left behind, she needs to prove she can be a shinobi._

 _A/N: Most people dislike present tense, but I figured it would tell the story better. All flashbacks are past and we all know there's a bunch of flashbacks. To make up for the disliked tense, I give you third person omniscient, or see into everyone's heads!_

 **April, 45 years NE**

 **Monaka: 10 years, 6 months**

 **Rewrote/Posted: 14, April 2016**

* * *

"Can anyone explain what connects the chakra to the body?" Suzume looks among her young students, eyes briefly flickering over Sakura who generally has all the answers. Sakura can't see her eyes because her eyeglasses conceal them and doesn't want to look up. Because she's clueless.

"Anybody?" Suzume glances at the hiding Hyuuga who could obviously see chakra points, but he remains silent. Hotaru grits his teeth; it's too terrifying to answer and get the question wrong. " ... alright. The way chakra is connected to the body is called 'homeostasis.'"

"Home-what?" Ino quietly blurts out, secretly hating this Chakra Basics class, but needing it as a first year.

Sakura, sitting next to her and staring at her teacher, easily adds: "Homeostasis is the body naturally achieving equilibrium such as regulating body temperature."

Ino nudges her shoulder. "Love the fact you're using big words to describe big words."

"In we dumb people terms," Shikamaru whispers lazily from the row behind, "it's how the body likes to keep itself equal."

"Oh." Ino looks down three rows to her left to see Uchiha Sanada smiling and happily listening. The Uchiha always adored anything to do with training or something that could help in training. Unfortunately, Ino and Sakura had to help her out in kunoichi pursuits as being girly didn't interest her at all, but the six-year-old looks gleeful as of now. _Wonder why Sanada didn't know? She's just as bad as Sakura with answering questions_.

Suzume, at the point, had finished writing the word on the board and its definition. _Homeo - human. Stasis - stability_. ("Easy to remember, but not a perfect definition," Sakura whispers. "Homeostasis can effect all animals.") "When you prick your finger and it bleeds, your body clots the blood so no more can escape, then repairs the damage. Your stomach must add a layer of lining for your tummies, or else your ... 'tummy juice' will fall out."

Some "ew" from girls, some chuckles from boys.

"That is your body's way of keeping balanced. Homeostasis isn't only active when something's wrong, it also keeps bad things from happening the best it can, but there's only so much our cells can do. That is where chakra helps and more.

"An excellent example is medical ninjutsu. A medic uses their chakra to stimulate the chakra in your body to increase the rate of homeostasis without any consequences, if the medic's chakra is good enough. You can have high chakra control, but if your chakra is not acceptable for medical ninjutsu, you will not be picked."

Sanada looks at her hands. _I wonder if my chakra is good enough? If I learned medical ninjutsu, Itachi-nii would be soo jealous!_

"There have been reports and studies that say chakra is closely influenced by willpower, but nothing conclusive has occured yet. Anyway, chakra is used to enhance the body's balancing. Imagine walking on walls." Suzume pauses due to her students' _ooohs_ or denials. "Imagine. Your organs will have to constantly fight gravity, right? Your chakra suppresses that feeling. How about falling from large heights? Your chakra makes it easier for your body to handle it.

"This task only requires the bare minimum of control, obviously the highest chakra control will be the most effective. Today, you are going to learn how to use chakra to break past normal limits. You will jump as high as swing sets, catch yourself from a fall better than a cat, and lift heavy things like an adult."

Sakura's hand shoots up. "I don't understand, sensei. Where is chakra located in my body?"

"Chakra is everywhere within you, but the chakra system is a series of interconnected 'veins' that grows naturally with the more use of chakra and shares almost all of its 'veins' with the nervous system. Skilled users can utilize the _tenketsu_ \- chakra points - to sever or increase the flow of chakra."

Sakura sets her hand down, satisfied.

Monaka watches Sakura smile contentedly. _If she can do it, so can I_. With a gulp, Monaka raises her hand.

Suzume follows the movement in her peripheral to the no-last-name girl. "Yes, Monaka-kun?"

"Um ... uh ... " She fiddles with the goggles on her head. "Chakra does this ... 'hoho' whatever thing, so, is it possible to live on just chakra?"

Before she finished, children snicker at her mispronunciation. Now they sit, confused. Sanada beams at the redhead. _Cool question_. But, remembering her father's demands, wipes all expression and looks away, though Monaka saw it.

The teacher pushes up her glasses. "It's ... very possible, but one would need the best chakra control ability in the entire Shinobi World. I don't figure the Slug Princess can handle that intensity ... why do you ask?"

Monaka'd cheeks turn scarlet. "No reason, sensei!"

... in reality, she knows she has a butt-load of chakra and is seriously trying not to move. She's _starving_ ; every gesture leads to dying whales erupting ... or her tummy growling.

* * *

By the end of the second year of Academy, all of his students are near nine.

Both Monaka's and Sanada's rivalry starts to become more and more apparent. Sure, Monaka is last in pretty much everything, from being the only student not know any kanji by the time she was eight, to not being able to even write, but she's endlessly determined. Sometimes, that determination frightens Sanada because she knows no matter what skillful tactic she preforms, the redhead will take it and come back for more.

(To which she gets defeated again because Monaka isn't that bright.)

Outside of Monaka's rivalry, Iruka has noticed the girl playing more and more pranks. Unlike Kiba's cautious pranks and without parents to scold her, her pranks are much more outrageous, from taking pictures of girls' panties, to putting panties on sticks and have them wave like majestic flags, as well as stuffing panties in people's food without their knowledge.

... Monaka focuses a little too much on panties, even proudly boasting she hates them, hence she wears boxers instead.

In other developments, Haruno Sakura has become inseparable from the Ino-Shika-Chou trio, as well as the trio becoming more and more as a family. Both Sakura and Ino share their pursuit of being acknowledged by the cold Uchiha, Sakura wanting it more for someone acknowledging her efforts, Ino wanting it more just to impress her friends who looks to her as a role model.

Sakura is very intelligent on a wide variety of things, but adores Ino's confidence, social nature, and her love of plants (Ino loves that Sakura's is named after such a beautiful flower). The two have created a few clubs such as knitting, Chakra Theory, and horticulture.

The second year is important because little Hyuuga Hotaru stayed home while his sister Hanabi attended Neji's graduation from Academy.

Having left at noon, the family returns at the latter half of sunset, all jolly and eager. Hotaru hears them coming to the Hyuuga Compound (not because he was sitting in front of the entrance all day) and smiles. As expected, he gets no response aside from a brief glance, but that's okay.

As the clan members walk by Neji stops next Hotaru with his hitai-ate shining on his forehead and a smirk on his face.

"Congratulations, Neji-nii-san," smiles Hotaru. "I-I knew you could do it."

"As did I. Hotaru- _sama_ , we've already ate before arriving, therefore there will be no dinner tonight. You will have to make your own food - if you can handle that."

Hotaru shrinks a little. "I-I can ... "

Hotaru's little sister Hanabi also stops besides Neji. Hanabi cares a lot for her appearance, so she looks cute yet regal. "Hotaru-nii, maybe you'll graduate soon?"

That lifts up his spirits. Hanabi is already the technical heir for the Hyuuga Clan at five, and ever since they had to battle (to which she won), it broke the pedestal Hanabi had for Hotaru.

"Thank you, Hanabi-chan!"

"Yeah! We'll both graduate together!"

Hotaru tilts his head. "But ... you aren't in Academy yet?"

"Dad says if I keep going with Neji-chan as my tutor, I'd graduate less than a year! Then Neji and I will become the greatest Hyuuga of our generation!"

Neji doesn't look like he minds being her sensei - it'd probably be much more fun with an actual fight - but Hotaru feels his gut drop and tears picking his eyes. Training with Neji is the only thing keeping him useful. It means his father still has some sort of hope of training Hotaru - but if Hanabi takes that and proves to be able to use it unlike him, there's nothing standing in his way with being branding by the _seal_ and shipped off to the branch family.

" ... I see," murmurs Hotaru.

"Don't feel bad, Hotaru-nii." She leans forward and cups her hand over his ear. "It'll be just like Dad and Uncle! Two brothers protecting one another! 'Cept we're brother and sister. Cheer up!"

She leans back with a sly giggle and heads inside. Hotaru starts to tear up which only gains an annoying growl from Neji as he pushes past his cousin.

 _I'm completely worthless_ ...

But he thinks back to the day his classmate, Monaka, helped him. It gives him confidence because, just like him, Monaka is pretty worthless, she's a dead last, but she just keeps pulling forwards. That's the reason why that redhead is his role model.

* * *

Hitting the third year on Academy, everyone wants to take the graduation test despite being able to take it for two more years: twelve years old. It's a Wednesday, only three more days until the end, and Iruka likes to list all that transpired.

Sakura and Ino are first and second kunoichi respectively while Sanada is the first ninja of all. That was obvious.

However, Monaka's drastic change from lonely, socially awkward yet upbeat girl, to all that plus an occasional pranker, to the now obnoxious girl who pranks people or make them frustrated _all - the - time_. It's bearable because Monaka often misses consecutive school days only to find out she willingly skipped school to cause more pranks. Every week she gets back, the teachers try to patch up any escape routes because she likes ditching. Yet she always escaped. One attempt keeping in school and not bothering their Hokage with complaints - caused by her pranks - lasted a week into winter break. When she escaped, no one was anxious to collect her.

She's late, she's loud, she's flippant, and, though she didn't know it, started to become good friends with Kiba who appreciated her small yet bold pranks every now and then. Now they've reverted back to acquaintances. Her rivalry between Sanada also suffered a hit; maybe the two were beginning to accept one another; now Sanada despises the annoying girl and refuses to treat her seriously, and Monaka will do anything (even if unreasonable) for attention.

And what's worse: Iruka did the exact same thing because of his parent's death.

With only an hour until the Academy is over, Iruka still hasn't seen Monaka and has accepted she won't show up -

There's a knock at the door. A short pause goes by before the door slides open revealing a grinning girl holding six boxes that look like presents.

"Sup, you guys!" she says cheerfully. "I've got presents, ch'no!"

This is a first. She actually came to school - it's either she shows or she doesn't. The Monaka he knew wore dark, quiet colors. This Monaka wears an orange - the most obnoxious shade - and blue jacket split down the middle and khaki shorts.

"Monaka," Iruka huffs. "You expect me to believe you came back to school just to deliver _presents_?"

Monaka rubs her nose with a sheepish grin. "Yeah! I just couldn't wait another day, Iruka-sensei!"

Sakura watches the scene with a fist on her chin. "Man, Monaka is so totally annoying nowadays. First she used to be so scary."

Ino nods. Being a natural sensor, she felt Monaka's Kyuubi infested chakra vividly. "And now she's just this annoying half pint."

Shikamaru shrugs. "Can you believe she started calling herself the next Hokage? What a joke."

Hotaru watches in horror. _Oh, Monaka-chan! What happened to you? Is this because I couldn't stay off the sidelines?!_

Sanada easily ignores the entire situation and idly practices hand seals.

"Sit down right now, Monaka," Iruka states. "Or leave. There is only two choices."

She ignores his scary tone. "But I have to deliver my presents first, silly!" She belatedly carries the gifts to the first five students staring at her with suspicion. The last one is her acquaintance Kiba.

Kiba really sees Monaka as clown in a rodeo. It's hard to take someone seriously when they don't themselves. He grabs the green box and sniffs it. "What is it? Don't smell bad. It's actually really familiar."

"Waaah?" She smirks. "You can't smell inside the box?"

"No! It just doesn't have any noticeable smell! My nose is the best!" His puppy, Akamaru, barks. "Well, second best to Akamaru here!"

Monaka bounds to the center of the room saying, "Open up your presents now! I promise you can't leave without these gifts, ch'no~!"

The six students slowly open their boxes and within them are

\- horrified gasps fill the room.

"MONAKA!" Sakura rises out her seat holding a pink box, and throws it on the ground. "Unbelievable! You just can't stop you and your stupid pranks, can you?!"

The redhead sweatdrops. _Sakura-chan is really mad, huh ... !_

Kiba stares into his box and mumbles to nobody, "She put my underwear in this box!"

"What?! My mom was washing these this morning!"

"I thought she was trying to be nice for once!"

"What's with her stupid obsession with panties? Such an idiot!"

Sanada shakes her head in disappointment and resumes her practicing.

Ino comforts an upset Sakura, meanwhile Shikamaru glares (lazily) at Monaka and Chouji (as sweet as he is) obviously avoids looking at her.

In the way back of the classroom, Shino isn't disappointed with her stunt because he's long stopped believing anything good about her.

Hotaru ruffles his hair as he sways with a red face. _Monaka-chan, please don't do this anymore! It hasn't been funny for months!_

Shino, his friend for a long while, says quietly, "I am aware you look up to Monaka, but I think you should not. Why? Because she obviously does not respect herself so neither should you."

Hotaru drops his chin on the desk. "N-No, I still b-believe in her! Because ... "

Because he can't bear to think his role model as a bad person. If that were to happen, Hotaru may think his whole life was a lie.

Iruka, fed up with her, grabs her ear and pulls her outside the classroom. After he closes the door, he finally releases Monaka's burning ear.

The redhead holds onto her ear, pouting. "What was that for, chunno?!"

"Do you not understand what you're doing is wrong?!" shouts Iruka, arms crossed over his chest.

"What's it matter, anyway?! I like playing pranks, and you guys just don't have a sense of humor!"

"You weren't always like this, Monaka! You barely come to school, you play these ridiculous pranks if you do come, and nobody respects you anymore!"

The girl fiddles with her goggles that serve as a sort of headband for her short hair. "They never respected me, Iruka-sensei! That's why I'm gonna become Hokage, ch'no!"

"You're wrong. You don't need dozens of people to respect you. I respected you, Kiba respected you, Sanada respected you - many others!"

The girl stares at her feet. "I don't care. If I'm Hokage, they'll have to respect me anyways."

Iruka groans. "You don't get it. You're ... you want attention and that's why you're doing all of this, right?" Monaka winces. "But if you think that just becoming Hokage automatically guarantees you respect, you're _wrong_."

She stomps her foot. "No! I don't wanna be Hokage for attention, Iruka-sensei! I wanna be Hokage cuz you hafta be respected to even get the job, ch'no!"

"What? Then why act like _this_?!"

"Cuz everyone keeps ignoring me or bullying me! If I don't do this crap, people'll think I'm weak and stuff, and I'm _not_!"

Ah. That's why. And Iruka never got the chance to find out because she barely came to school. And whenever she was at school, she got into trouble before the day ended. Monaka is a short, redhaired girl (nobody believes is her actual hair color), who looks way too similar to a certain fox.

His anger calms down. "Oh, Monaka, I wish you said something earlier ... "

She shuts her eyes tight. "Whatta you talking about?"

"A fortnight ago today, was the due date for signing up. It was to take the graduation test on the last day of Academy."

"So? We've got two years left in here."

"Monaka, your classmates are very motivated and they're also tired of your pranks, so majority of them are going to take the graduation test early."

She blanches. "Wait ... "

"Even Sanada. As top shinobi, you and I both know she will past that test and become a Genin."

 _Nooo_! She doesn't remember anything she's learned - no, she hasn't learned anything in a full year! All she knows is that her chakra control is awful and she hasn't practice taijutsu in forever. Furthermore, Sanada is her rival and she can't become a Hokage without being a Genin first.

"Iruka-sensei! I needa take that test, ch'no!"

"But, you won't pass, Monaka! There's no way - "

"I'm not gonna _not_ try, ch'no! If there's a chance, I'm gonna do it!" She has a stubborn set to her face and rosy cheeks from her blood boiling.

 _There's that determined girl I know!_ Iruka can't help but to smile and to know she hasn't completely changed. "I think I can give you a test, but on a few conditions." Monaka listens eagerly. "Both me and the head kunoichi will teach you every afternoon until Friday, you must come to school all day long and actively participate in your classes, and no pranks."

No pranks? Fine. She can do without pranks for a few days if she doesn't want to be left behind. Monaka grins, canines in full view, and says, "I'll do all that and MORE, ch'no! Thank you!"

He smiles right back. "Welcome, Mona - ah!"

Monaka grabs his pants and pulls him towards the training grounds. Not wanting to be pants'd in public, he follows along. "Let's get started! This is gonna be sooo much fun!"

"It's good that you're eager, but the Academy isn't out yet!" Monaka fails to hear Iruka's panicking voice and they walk farther away from his room. "M-Monaka!"

* * *

The old man staring intently at the crystal ball laces his fingers together. Ever since she began Academy, Monaka made it a routine to see the Hokage everyday after school to talk about the people she saw, the things she learned; once the _Uchiha Massacre_ happened, the Hokage became far too busy to speak to her. It wasn't by choice - an entire clan was slaughtered in under a night. Funerals were to be arranged, the Uchiha of Konoha's Police Force were completely gone, so were the Uchiha scholars and even the Uchiha who no longer lived in the Uchiha Compound - all dead.

By the time everything was in order, Monaka was eight for a long time, and only visited three times a week. When she was nine, only once every two weeks. When ten, never, because her pranks always landed her in his office, and even then, she purposely said and did things to try making the Hokage upset, but it always failed. Such a drastic change occured in the girl, and he doesn't know when it happened.

And now ... now the redhead refuses to mention anything about her life. Her sole purpose is to make everyone upset with her, to hate her.

 _Monaka, you've grown up surrounded by hate. Just when you start getting respect, you act like this. Why? Why inspire such an emotion you were trying to escape? This goes far beyond her need for attention._

There has to be a hidden motive - something she just isn't telling the Hokage.

* * *

Iruka scratches the hair under his hitai-ate as he stands before Monaka on the training ground. "Okay, let's get this started, right? For the test, you need to be able to use the basic three: Transformation no Jutsu, Body Replacement no Jutsu, and Clone no Jutsu. For a kunoichi, you need to display proficiency in make up and knowledge of flowers. And you need to have some progress in shurikenjutsu, plus know the Hokage-sama's name."

To preform jutsu, one must first "mold chakra," meaning combining spiritual chakra and physical chakra. Physical chakra is enhanced through training and other physical means. Spiritual chakra comes from meditation, maturing of the mind, or the increase of knowledge and wisdom.

Next, hand seals are needed to "unlock" each jutsu. Each jutsu has specific hands seals that goes with it; twelve hand signs for the Zodiac symbols, though different regions put their own spin to the basic twelve signs, usually to accommodate their jutsu style. (More fluid signs for water countries; more forceful signs for earth countries.) Konoha, being a melting pot of culture, sticks with the universal hand seals.

The hand seal-jutsu relationship works like a safe. Every seal is a lock on the safe. Enough correct combinations for the lock, and the safe will open. A jutsu can only be preformed once a person adds chakra, and a child's first lesson is practicing to instinctively move their chakra which each seal. Monaka took that lesson years ago, so she can still preform jutsu (just not really good jutsu).

Explaining this into detail with Monaka is equivalent to brushing one's teeth with mint toothpaste - yellow in color so that it resembles lemon meringue pie - on a brick.

Upon mentioning the Hokage's name as a "test question," Iruka represses a snort. It's merely a joke question, to defuse the tension in the testing room. No one can get that wrong -

"Ehhh? Old man has a name?"

He sweatdrops. "All your life here and you don't know the Hokage's name."

"I thought his name was 'the Third Hokage!'" Monaka grumbles. "Why call 'im that if it ain't his name?!"

"Because it's his title! Refer to your elders by title - that's how to be polite!"

"Hm! Being polite is stupid!"

"The only STUPID thing here is YOU!"

"HEY, SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU, CH'NO!"

"Iruka-sensei, Monaka, just what are you doing?!"

Monaka flinches at the familiar, girl voice while Iruka turns.

There, is Haruno Sakura, fists on her hips, and pouts on the training in which they stand. "Did you forget there's a class going on? Well ... it's pretty much over now, but still!"

Sakura, from first glance, looks really innocent. She wears a dark pink romper with white lines and circles that makes her outfit seem more Chinese-style. She wears khaki-colored knee protectors and a red bow to tie her long hair into a ponytail ... sans the few locks that escaped. Ino had greatly affected her fashion sense from "comfortable" to "cozy and girly."

An idea flares in Iruka's head. "Sakura-chan! Why don't you teach Monaka? All she needs are the basic three, shurikenjutsu, and kunoichi knowledge. I'm sure someone as smart as you can do it!"

Sakura had her eyebrow twitching while he spoke up until the compliment. Now she smirks. "Iruka-sensei, thank you for your kind words, but I really do not want to train Monaka."

Monaka slumps onto the ground. "R-Really ... ?"

Sakura shoots her a glare. "She's just so ANNOYING! Seriously!"

 _Yeah, yeah! How dare she be so uncool in front of Sanada-chan?! At least she tries her absolute hardest in things! At least she wants to grow, and her apathy is just an unfortunate side effect of the massacre_ ... Inner Sakura slouches with a sigh. _There's nothing I can do to fix that damage._

Iruka notices her subdued personality and continues with, "As a shinobi of Konoha, it's our duty to promote teamwork. Normally, this only applies to ninja out on the field, but I think it's time to apply that lesson to soon-to-be graduates, right?"

The Haruno blinks. _W-Well, when ya put it that way_ ... "Fine."

"YAY!" Monaka snatches Sakura into a hug. Sakura stands rock-still as the short girl squeezes her. "Iruka-sensei is annoying! Glad to have you here, Sakura-sensei!"

 _S-Sakura-sensei_ ... ?

"I'M the annoying one?! Really?!"

Sakura breaks free of Monaka's hug, causing the redhead to fall to her butt as she looks up to Sakura smirking, hands on her hips like some kind of dictator.

"S ... Sakura-chan?" Monaka mumbles, half-flinching.

"It's Sakura-SENSEI to you, Monaka!" She cracks her knuckles, has a distorted grin on her face, and she's practically standing in front fire with the amount of intensity she exuding. "Now then ... shall we train?"

Iruka sweatdrops. Somehow, this feels like revenge.

* * *

"Monaka-chan?" Sakura calmly says. "Do you fully understand how the Academy Test works?"

Monaka shakes her head. "You do things?"

She ignores that for sanity's sake. "It's not secret shinobi love tricking one another. Why? There's a saying ... ' _a ninja must see through deception_.' It's because shinobi were born to deceive, sneak, and hide. After all these years, our roots haven't left us.

"It's no secret that one-third of Konoha must be shinobi to assure our power. Greater than that, and we risk corruption and destruction. Kiri, for one, has had the problem of too many shinobi leading to the production of Hunter-nin - "

Sakura pauses when she sees Monaka's eyes glaze over. "Ahem. It's safe to say graduation weeds out potential shinobi. The shinobi who others consider lie outside the one-third - the Third - are not given the true test, but a simple exam and written test. Those with the potential for the Third are given the true test."

Monaka yawns. "Yeah, yeah ... "

Sakura pokes her nose. "LIKE I WAS SAYING, the true test is one that deceives you. I don't know what'll be on the test, but I do know it's designed to trick you and to test everything you've learned."

... _which is nothing_ , Inner Sakura adds.

"Fine, that's great and all," the redhead grumbles, "but I wanna train, ch'no."

"Urgh! I'm trying to explain to you how this dumb test work so that you can train!"

"I heard nothin' useful."

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE - !" Sakura cuts herself off. "Fine. Let's train, okay? Let's pretend to be _mindless_ bags of meat and _train_!"

Sakura grabs Monaka's collar a drags her to the training mat, mostly used for taijutsu spars. Monaka quietly giggles. It's really fun making others angry enough so negative energy leaks out. After all ... negative energy is so much more better than the nothingness of everyone else.

The Haruno drops her onto the mat quite abruptly. "Your chakra control sucks, alright? That's the main reason why you can't do any jutsu - that's your problem. You can preform the basic three, but you don't have enough control to make it count."

Monaka rubs her head. "That's it?! Why didn't they teach me that stuff before, ch'no?!"

"Because you were never in school," Sakura snaps. "You never listened or cared, and - "

and ... what is that energy within the girl? Sakura faintly remembers being terrified to get too close because of the constant Killing Intent she leaked. Nowadays, she's never felt that issue, but Ino described the sense as something _dark_ deep within Monaka. Ino remembers feeling that same chakra from when she was a baby, which led to months of nightmares.

All Sakura can vaguely tell now is that Monaka has a lot of chakra. She feels it when she preform jutsu and wastes so much chakra, it's enough to feeding a starving country, yet the redhead doesn't look phased.

 _There's always been something ... off about her, and she acts so human it's easy to forget. But ... I think she's useful with all that chakra._

Sakura doesn't know just how many people thought that exact same line.

Monaka stares at the ground during the silence. Sakura shakes her head and grabs a coin out her pocket, placing it within Monaka's chubby hand. "Here."

Monaka observes the coin with a stylized _ryou_ on the middle. "You ... bribing me?"

"No! This is a ryou coin. You're going to use your chakra to get it to stick to your forehead. Once you accomplish that, you should have my success in performing the basic three."

She grins. "Coool! How do I do it?!"

Sakura smiles (totally not because Monaka's enthusiasm). "Transfer your chakra to the center of your head and place the coin like so." She holds another coin on her forehead with one finger. "If you push your chakra too much, your coin will go flying off your head. If you pull your chakra, the coin might go ... er, through your head. If you balance the two forces, your coin will stick." She removes her finger and the coin reminds, doting her forehead like a diamond.

Monaka bounces to her feet and sits cross-legged in front Sakura. "Heheh! This seems like fun, chunno!"

The concept is fun

The process is not

Almost two hours later, Monaka cannot get the coin to stick. 176 coins went flying; 26 almost went through her head. Sakura groans because she's almost convinced Monaka is trying to steal all her money.

Monaka's latest coin drops as soon as she lets go. She pants. "I ... I gotta do it again!"

"Dear kami, no!" Sakura grabs her wrist. "Let's ... Let's try make-up and flowers, okay?"

Good news: Monaka's a pro with make-up.

"Okay, Sakura-sensei, turn around!"

Sakura smiles to herself. Finally! Something she's good at. "Alright, turning around - AAAIIIIIEEE!"

The redhead looks like a _frog_. She cackles until Sakura punches her head. "QUIT YOUR STUPID PRANKS, MONAKAAA!"

"So, this flower is poisonous?"

"That's a mushroom."

"Are mushroom poisonous?"

"Some are."

A pause.

"Can I eat it?"

"NO! This is flower language not cooking class! Focus!"

"But ... I'm hungry and it looks yummy."

Sakura smacks her face. "Ah, yes, because dirt and insect-covered plants that eat dead things look so appetizing."

"They do?!" Her eyes sparkle. "Neeaat!"

 _This girl is going to give me an aneurysm_.

* * *

Sakura mopes because her purse is still missing coins under Konoha's starry night sky. Beside her is a tired-looking Monaka who, for some reason, still feels completely motivated to continue, despite her few successes.

Why? Sakura can't understand. If she's not good in something, why continue?

Monaka starts a little feeling inconspicuous amounts of Sakura's negative energy. Unless it's Sanada, it always unnerves her feeling other's energy because she _only_ wants to fix Sanada. She _looks up_ to her. With others ... it hasn't occurred to her ten year old mind yet.

"You okay, Sakura-sensei?" Monaka says, resting her arms on the back of her head.

Sakura nods absentmindedly. _Being strong no matter what ... that's what Sanada-chan does, right? But ... how could such an_ uncool _person do something kinda ... cool? What does_ cool _even mean - ?_

"Hey! Ramen cheers me up!" Monaka grins. "Let's go get some! C'mon, Sakura-sensei!"

Sakura deadpans. "Ramen cheers you up, not me."

The redhead remains undeterred. "Silly! I meant that if it can make me happy, it'll make you happy, chunno!"

 _Oh_! The pink-haired girl is left speechless as Monaka grabs her wrists and leads her to the ramen shop only a few blocks away, running, of course. When they make it there, the short girl is hardly out of breath whereas Sakura pants.

 _It's pretty empty around here_ , she thinks while observing the streets. _Sure spring is hot, but not that hot, right?_ Monaka drags her inside and to a stool, the smell of hot water and flavors hitting her nose. Her stomach growls. _Guess I do need food, huh_.

Teuchi, founder of Ichiraku Ramen, immediately notices his best customer and favorite redhead. "Monaka," he smiles. "Good to see you."

Monaka hops onto a stool and chuckles. One of the usual for me! And for my sensei ... ?" She looks at Sakura who freezes at the attention.

"U-Um ... just ... " She internally shrinks at all the options. So many variety of ramen ramen ramen, like yakisoba, beef, vegetarian, chicken, fish, fried, grilled, buffalo ramen, oh boy! Her eyes settle on the ramen decorated by gold trim. "Spicy ramen?"

Teuchi nods with a smile. _Seems like little red has her first friend! Uzumaki-san would be so proud_. "Right away."

Sakura shyly gets to her stool while Monaka beams at her. "Oh, oh, I didn't know you liked spicy ramen, cuz I would've brought you here a long time ago, ch'no!"

She leans away. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean that!" Monaka points to a small poster sitting on the counter, the exact place Sakura saw her order. "That's the 'Gutsy Ninja Challenge!' The challenge is: eat ten, biiiig bowls of spicy ramen with only a cup of white tea! The winner gets a _monaka_! Teuchi-san told me they're suuuuper rare in Konoha, somethin' about stingy Raikage, chunno!"

The civilian girl taps her chin in thought. "Monaka? That must be where your name came from - someone who must've liked ramen a whole bunch ... "

Monaka grumbles a bit. "Teuchi-san said 'monaka' is the proto ... ptrog ... "

"Protagonist?"

" ... favorite food!" She adjusts her googles. "And, besides, whoever that person is must have awesome red hair as mine!"

"Why do you keep saying that? Everyone knows it's fake, just like your little ' _chunno_.'"

Suddenly, Monaka's positivity goes downhill. "Huh?"

"Everyone knows you're trying to be like the seal mistress, Uzumaki Kushina," Sakura continues gloomily. "She said ' _channo_ ' sometimes and she had pretty, red hair. But, the chakra monster killed her October fourteenth."

The redhead winces at her negative energy. "I dunno who she is, Sakura-sensei."

"Hmph." Sakura observes Monaka's face. _The only thing she has is her fake, red hair ... Kushina-sama doesn't have blue eyes - they're dark purple. And there's no whiskers on her cheeks, no pale skin, nor is her face similar. Whatever mockery Monaka is trying to do ... it's not perfect._

She watches as Monaka forgets her surroundings when she gets her ramen bowl, practically inhaling the noodles.

 _Monaka is a weird ... weird girl_. But, even as Monaka's enigmatic nature annoys Sakura, it also interests her. Monaka is far too idiotic to keep secrets, or is she?

"Ah! S-Sakura-chan? M-Monaka-chan?"

Only Sakura turns to see Hyuuga Hotaru holding a big book uncertainly inside Ichiraku. The civilian finds it _adorable_ how Hotaru looks like a girl rather than a boy. She smiles. "Hotaru-san! Come over here!"

Hotaru, with pink cheeks, obeys, sitting next to Sakura while glancing at Monaka. "U-Um, hello ... "

Sakura bows when Teuchi hands her bowl over and splits her chopsticks. "What're you doing here?"

"I-I needed a q-quiet place to read ... " Hotaru watches as Monaka asks for more ramen, then waves to him and shouts "hello."

Well, Ichiraku is pretty much empty and quiet. "I see. I was training Monaka here. But, um, why here instead of a library?"

"It ... it was closed, so ... " He stares at his book, too intimated to look at her eyes.

"What? How can it be closed? I know that schedule like the back of my heart. It closes at nine."

Hotaru sinks in his stool. "I-It's almost ten, though ... "

Sakura screams in horror, prompting Monaka (who started to eat two more bowls) to look up.

"We were training for that LONG?! Oh shoot!" She hops off the stool and bows. "Thank you for meal - I needa go because Mom's gonna _kill_ me!"

She can already see her mother stalking the streets for her baby girl - and because her mother was a delinquent-punk, she's _terrifying_ when upset.

Monaka looks between Sakura uneaten ramen with chopsticks placed flat and the girl in question. "W-What? You're leaving now? Really? Hotaru-chan, ten o'clock isn't _that_ much, is it?!"

"My mom sure thinks so! Good night."

Monaka grabs her hand. "Waaaaiiit! At least eat ramen with me!"

Sakura pulls away, but can't shake off her grip. "No, Monaka!"

Hotaru hugs his book tightly. _No! If Sakura-san left, I would be a-all alone with Monaka-chan! And ... and I can't function like that, being alone with other people! I've got to get her stay! It's time I stopped watching Monaka to give me strength. It's time I give some of my own!_

He nods to himself. _What can I do to convince Sakura-san? Well ... what do I know about Monaka-chan? Monaka-chan is an orphan and Sakura-san talked about her mother, so ._..

He turns to where Sakura sits, to convince her to stay -

He pales. _Wah?! She's gone?!_ Hotaru looks until he find Monaka slurping her ramen gloomily and Sakura almost out the restaurant.

With a panicked cry, he launches himself out the stool and manages to block Sakura - the fastest he's ever moved in his life, his ten year life.

"S-Sakura-san!" he pants.

Sakura blinks. "Are you okay, Hotaru-san?"

"You c-can't leave!"

"What? My mom is going to me if I don't."

"B-B-But - um, yeah, that's the r-reason you can't leave!" He twiddle his fingers. "B-Because Monaka-chan d-doesn't have anybody like u-us ... "

Sakura freezes as if a lightning bolt struck her.

 _Gah! She's an orphan, huh_?! She looks over to the moping redhead. _But ... aw, it's late and she's all alone and Hotaru's too shy to do anything about it. It's a miracle he did this_. She huffs. _Shannaro ... curse my conscience_.

Monaka has her chin lying on the counter, swirling the ramen with her chopsticks. And she was just beginning to have fun ... it's lots of fun not being alone.

The redhead senses movement to her left, and she sees a pink-haired girl with her hands pressed together, saying, " _Itadakimasu_!"

"Sakura-sensei!" Her zest for eating returns immediately. "You're back!"

"Might as well eat dinner, huh?" she smiles. "'Sides, I kinda forgot to pay, so ... "

"No need!" Monaka pulls out a ryou coin out her hair. "I'm loaded on coins, ch'no!"

" _Offff_ course you are." Sigh. "Well, let's see how good this tastes, eh?"

Hotaru watches with a smile as Sakura takes her first bite of spicy ramen. Her teeth cuts the noodles so it flops back into the bowl while she eats what's in her mouth. Her eyes get wide; her cheeks turn red. "D-Do you n-need water - ?"

"This is _delicious_!" Sakura holds her cheeks. "Seriously! You can barely taste the spice!"

Monaka sweatdrops. Because she's tried the Gutsy Ninja Challenge once and that spicy ramen practically incinerated her mouth. Then she grins. "Well, at least you like it!"

The two girls happily eat away at their meal while Hotaru reads his book and Teuchi cleans up his restaurant. Halfway through her bowl, Sakura says to the Hyuuga, "Hey, why are you here so late?"

He starts to pull on his long hair. "I-I'm not supposed to be o-out, but I wanted to r-read this book." He holds it up.

" _The Art of Soft Style Martial Arts_. Oh, extra practice?"

He nods. "W-We Hyuuga use soft style which m-means we focus less on powerful hits a-and more redirection and counter attacks."

"I see." Any kid who didn't really care about politics won't know that Hotaru is technically disowned from his clan due to weakness. Sakura is interested in politics and knows this already. She may not know what to do as an average girl, but she decides to treat him like a human.

She finishes her meal about twenty minutes later, feeling really happy; when she gets home, her mother just about screams her head off, with her dad - though worried - cracking horrible jokes to break the tension.

When she finally lies down in bed, long hair free, she looks at the starry sky out her window.

 _Monaka is ... a lot like Sanada-chan. But, Sanada-chan became smart and quiet, whereas Monaka became dumb and loud. Maybe ... maybe I'm wrong about her - maybe she isn't that bad._

Just this morning she despised the girl. Now, with a smile ... she realizes she doesn't mind being her friend.


	3. Episode 3, Beginning Arc Finale

"Everything will become easier if you just gave up."

The man with sunset-hued hair stands with folded arms, eyes locked on the enemy before him, uncaring of the breeze fluttering the tree leaves.

"Give up?" the man echoes. " _Give up_?"

"We are shinobi," his enemy continues, arrogance lacing his words. "We are born to be the _weapons_ of others until we die. We follow a code made to make us submit and die. Our single existence is to sacrifice our bodies to be yet another corpse holding up Shuku's foundations. I know all that because I've seen the darkness even _light_ casts. So, give up. Do the most honorable thing and kill yourself."

The man shakes his head, a grimace ruining his handsome features. "Never. Renge, you are my brother, despite us sharing no blood. The life a shinobi is a cruel life, but I will not give up. I will not submit to this fate of death. I will create my own _future_ , and I need Team Shuu's help. Renge, you must come back to Shuku and realize we, the _Three Ninja of Shuku_ , have the power to change everyone's fate should we work together."

Renge hisses at the prospect. "Fool. You are nothing but a _fool_. We have no power. Nothing we ever do will ever be powerful, no matter how many lives have met their end both directly and indirectly to these hands."

"Enough! Stop your hatred, Renge!"

"Why? Why do you live in ignorance, you fool?"

"I am no fool. I am your comrade, your teammate, and your brother. My name is Musasabi Naruto."

* * *

 **SHINOBI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

 **Beginning Arc Finale**

 **Episode 3**

 **The Academy Test - Crazy or Ingenious?!**

 **Synopsis** _: Monaka prepares to take her test while training with Sakura. Things don't go as planned._

 _A/N: The Gutsy Ninja is actually a novel that exists in real life! (Squeal) But I have to rewrite it to fit SoHL's relationships. Also! 11,000 words of SOHL!_ _ **Chakra Fact From SoHL 1:**_ _Hashirama Senju is considered the father of chakra from a scientific sense, however some people believe the Tanabata goddess is the actual mother._

 **April, 45 years NE**

 **Monaka: 10 years, 6 months**

 **Rewrote/Posted: 19, April 2016**

* * *

 _The Gutsy Ninja_ ... ?

 _It's written by the Toad Sage, so it must be good_ , Sakura had thought, eying it in the book store. The book was the only one left on the shelf and was second edition. _Though, Mom says I shouldn't read his books because they're "racy." This shouldn't be a problem - it sounds like an epic._

Sakura bought the book and took it to school. Now, she read the prologue during the minutes before class and she grimaces with a smile.

The actual narrative is pretty laughable, with its almost purple prose and its language trying too hard to make it seem as if the story takes place in an era before Konoha.

Despite that, the words it speaks are very powerful. That's why Sakura wants to keep reading.

 _But what does "sunset-hued hair" mean? A ginger? Monaka would like that, a ginger for a hero_. Sakura doesn't think Monaka knows how to read. At least not well, just the bare minimum to survive. _Now that I think about it ... that's kinda mean -_

"Oi, Sakura! You ditched me yesterday!"

She snaps the book shut and sits it behind her back in her chair. Up comes Yamanaka Ino, Sakura's best friend ever. She wears her stylish purple outfit and has her blonde hair in a high ponytail.

Today, Thursday, Ino drops into her seat, pushing Sakura a little, and huffs with her fist resting on her pouting cheek.

"We had horticulture club yesterday and you ditched!" Ino whines. "All you did was train the dummy who pranked you, remember? What's so important about her?"

Sakura glowers at nothing in particular. _I forgot she pranked me. ME!_ "Yeah, well, Iruka-sensei practically forced me to help her - they were both arguing."

"Hmph!" She pouts away from the pink-haired girl. "Still can't believe you bailed on me for the least grateful person in this class."

" _Ino_." She sighs as she twirls the red ribbon holding her ponytail. "But ... I think we shouldn't be that mean."

Ino seems reluctantly curious. "Explain?"

"Alright, well, Monaka has no family and she was kicked out orphanages, you know. She doesn't have anybody to go to."

Ino looks away, still trying to remain confident but her body language falters. "Yeah, so? It's never bothered you before ... "

"Because, her being an orphan didn't affect me; it was easy to ignore ... "

Her friend twirls her finger around a lock of hair. " ... yeah, get what you mean. But ... wouldn't it be crazy fun not having parents? Sanada-chan doesn't and she super strong and not like Monaka! She's just a bad apple."

 _Yeah, Sakura, why is that little red so bad if Sanada-chan isn't?_ "Why is Monaka so ... _Monaka_? Why didn't she become like Sanada-chan?"

Ino opens her mouth -

"There's a difference between having something and lost it versus never having anything at all."

Both girls recognize that lazy voice from anywhere.

Shikamaru and Chouji get into their seats behind the girls. The Nara would rather be late for Academy than wake up on time, but it's only two more days until Academy is over for good. 'Sides, he had cat nap yesterday afternoon. And by "cat nap," it's actually sleeping.

" ... but I'm not defending that idiot, or anything," Shikamaru says. "I'm only explaining their different minds."

"Then," Sakura says, "we should guide Monaka to becoming a good person."

"That's stupid _and_ troublesome. Just let her fail and we'll never see her again. Someone like her shouldn't be a shinobi."

Ino jumps in. "Don't you remember when she first joined Academy? Remember her scary chakra? That's not right! Normal people don't feel like they're imagining your death! There's something wrong with her."

 _Urrrgh, these guys sound so confident I don't know what to do anymore. I wish solving Monaka could be like a simple math equation_. "Underneath her vanishing, scary chakra and her being an orphan, don't you find her the least bit mysterious?"

" ... I find her mysterious," murmurs Chouji, uncomfortable with the whole conversation. "Doesn't mean I wanna find out why ... "

Sakura smiles. Chouji is easy to influence and Shikamaru follows Chouji and Ino joins when everyone else does.

"Think about it, Chouji! Who were her parents and why did they die? Why did she have that creepy chakra and is it gone? Why does she act so much like Kushina-sama? All that, and _more_!"

Ino scoffs. "Don't know, don't know, don't care."

Shikamaru yawns. "Yeah, it's a little weird, but if I can stand it for ten years, I can stand it for two more days."

"Shika's right," states the blonde.

 _You're losin' them, Haruno!_ " _I_ am going to make it my goal within these two days to find her secret no - matter - what. Not even if my life is in danger or if she hurts me, I'm going all out!" She punches the air for emphasis.

Ino waves her palms frantically. "Uh, no, please don't hurt yourself!"

"Sakura-chan, maybe you need some Gal-B chips? They calm me down!" sweatdrops the Akimichi.

"How troublesome," groans the Nara.

Inner Sakura grins wickedly. _Shannaro! When in doubt, play the danger card with these guys! They're so loyal, they're bound to help!_

For some reason, Sakura looks over her shoulder to see Iruka's desk still empty. "Sensei's late today ... "

"It's the last two days," Shikamaru adds, but his words are not convincing.

"What could Iruka-sensei be doing? I swear I'm going to drag him out his house! If we go to school, so does he!" Ino punches her palm and smirks. Sakura giggles while Shikamaru and Chouji lean away from the blonde.

 _When in doubt, food. I'm sure I have chocolate somewhere ..._

 _Women are so troublesome ... even if she isn't as scary as Mom._

* * *

Umino Iruka watches, hardly out of breath, as the redhead struggles to get back up from a kick without any true power. All he's been doing is either watching the redhead focus on sticking at least one coin on her forehead or teaching the redhead dodging and blocking. Monaka is out of practice so he obviously goes really easy, but she still fails.

"It's almost time for Academy," Iruka states, watching the sky. "Let's call it a day, hm?"

Monaka wobbles to her feet, slightly bruised, a little exhausted by chakra and stamina, clothes kinda dirty, but grumbles. "I need to pass! You ain't tired, ch'no! S-So why stop now?!"

"Because Academy starts soon," he mentions.

"That doesn't mean nothing! I've gotta pass, and I completely suck."

Iruka rubs his nose where his scar hits. "It's been less than a day, Monaka."

"Nuh-uh! I went home and practiced until five in the morning! Time means nothin', unless it's tomorrow, chunno."

Iruka's stomach twists."You CAN'T get that little SLEEP! You can seriously stunt your growth, Monaka!"

She shuts her eyes. " ... you callin' me short?"

"No! Academy starts at nine, so you've only got three to four hour's sleep. That's REALLY bad!"

"Yada, yada." She adjusts her goggles. "Quit talking and train me!"

 _I'm glad you're enthusiastic, but don't kill yourself_! "What can I do to make you go to class? The bet?"

Her cheeks turn red. One of the rules, from training and no pranks, is going to all classes and actively participating. "Stupid bet."

 _If she's going to fume silently like that, the bet may not work_. Then, Iruka remembers a paper she did once, talking about what she would save first if the world ended. She chose ramen. Even before her change, she was a handful.

"If ... you go to class now, I'll buy you ramen," he smiles, mostly at his cleverness.

Her mouth forms an O with her eyes twinkling. "You're ... you're not lying?"

"Why would I lie? I want to see you succeed, you know."

Monaka pounces Iruka with a huge hug. Iruka, completely puzzled, doesn't return it, but she doesn't recognize that. "You're _amazing_! Okay! Ramen when I pass, Iruka-sensei! Don't you forget, ch'no!"

Puzzlement gone, he chuckles. "I won't go back on my word. That's my ninja way."

The redhead looks up, still hugging her sensei. "What's a ninja way?"

"Oh, uh ... " _We don't teach ninja ways in Academy_ ... "It's something you come up with when you're out in the field. It's like a motto, but stronger. Sort of ... like morals, but a little less ... It's complicated. Not every ninja has a ninja way, but those who do, never break it, no matter what."

( _"I'm not gonna forget my parents, Hokage-sama!" said a young, tearful Iruka from his residence in Konoha Orphanage. "Because ... because I'm not going back on my word! That's_ my _ninja way!"_ )

She absorbs the information. "Then ... I want one, too! I want yours!"

"Never going back on my word? Monaka, you can't claim something like that. You have to actually achieve it first. It's really complicated."

"I'm gonna pass this test with flyin' colors, ch'no!" she smirks. "Cuz that's gonna be my ninja way, never going back on my words!"

Iruka smiles, a little nervous because she might _actually_ be better at his ninja way _than_ him. "Okay, okay, now get to class. Seriously!"

Monaka says her goodbyes and runs (runs!) to class. An amused Iruka also heads to his classroom.

 _Iruka, Iruka, Iruka._

Mizuki shuts the curtain to his room. He doesn't want to see his old friend anymore.

 _Catering to the demon, as usual. How can anybody be okay being ten feet from a murderer?_

Mizuki walks to his desk within his empty room. On his desk are tests packets for the plain, _normal_ test, a test for the ninja who didn't make the cut. Then there's the a special scroll emblazoned with the Hokage seal made for those who actually _are_ going to become ninja.

That scroll does not have the redhead's name in it.

 _There's no way she's going to pass. She acts like a messed up version of that fox and the seal mistress, but I will not_ -

Mizuki feels a Body Flicker just outside his door before the person knocks on his door and walks in.

"Mizuki, you're here. Hey!"

The Chuunin flashes a bright smile to Iruka. "What're you doing here, Iruka? Shouldn't you be teaching?"

"I am, I am, not late yet. I just wanted to ask you to add Monaka's name on the scroll. Please?" He holds his hands together in prayer.

Mizuki tilts his head. "Huh? Why?"

"I think she'll be an excellent ninja, she just needs a little time. Please, Mizuki? You can determine her test, but just give her the real one, okay?"

Iruka smiles as Mizuki opens the scrolls and adds the redhead's name. "Only because we're friends."

"Thank you, Mizuki! I totally owe you, haha! Have a good day!" Iruka bows just because it's become an impulse and leaves.

Mizuki glowers at the spot his friend was. _Fine. I'll just give her ... and you ... a test you won't forget ... Iruka._

* * *

Konoha missions are considered atypical in the Shinobi World. Kiri from the Land of Water get primarily assassination or subdue missions, though Genin either preform real missions from the Mizukage (basically stalking prey) or the more common secret missions that involves assassinating competition for money.

Kumo from the Land of Lighting also receives missions just like Kiri, but instead of the stealth based missions, they receive assassination missions that encourages the sharpness and brightness of Lightning as well as Kumo's strength and influence.

Suna from Land of Wind and Iwa from Land of Earth are rather similar. They can handle variety of mission choices, but it's merely their upbringing that conditions them to assassination. Suna is a gigantic desert; death is very natural. Iwa obey their Tsuchikage no matter what, no matter if it involves murder. Tsuchikage are not chosen lightly.

But in Konoha ... absolutely no Genin is trained to assassinate. They're taught cooperation, gentleness, and see fights more as competitions. That's why, they're classified as _nice_. Their shinobi are extremely sensitive to death and killing. As a result, Konoha also gets almost 53 percent of total missions with Suna as the lowest (as it's surrounded by a hard to reach desert that has more corpses hidden under the sand then Suna does money).

However, Konoha is capable of _not-so-nice_ things. It just prefers to assign any dirty and corrupt stuff to the already broken.

Hatake Kakashi realized that fact and quit ANBU because of it. Developing PTS and antisocial tendencies, he became a perfect fit for ANBU, but Obito pulled him back, Uchiha Obito. That is until the Uchiha Massacre happened.

Kakashi whistles to himself as he saunters up the Hokage's tower wall and slips into the window.

The Third Hokage, an old, old man, was sorting Academy tests, but welcomes the distraction. "Ah, Kakashi, you're back. It still seems you hate doors."

"Why use doors when there's windows?" he shrugs. "None of the wait. Plus, do you realize how many times that doorknob has been touched?"

The Hokage chuckles. He's known Kakashi ever since he was born, and was there during his father's funeral, then his teammate's funeral, his sensei's funeral, and, finally, his friend's funeral.

Chuckle over.

"What brings you here, Kakashi?"

"Just, uh, finished this mission." Kakashi pulls out his mission scroll out his back pocket. "Paid me while there. Remind me again why a big bad Jounin has to find a missing ostrich in Suna?"

The Hokage takes the scroll. "Suna has not gotten too many missions. 90 percent of the fund for this mission was gave back to Suna."

"Ew, politics, leave me out." He looks out the window, the soft pink cherry blossoms catching his eye. "Spring is here. Along with the Chuunin Exams and - "

" - your new team." With a smile because Kakashi glares using his one, visible eye, he slides Kakashi three papers on the desk. "The goal is to create a team with an Uchiha, a smart kunoichi, and an average shinobi."

He looks at the papers on the desk, turned to face him. "Shiranui Baku. Related to Genma?"

"Cousin. The two are nothing alike, however."

"A mysterious, civilian girl who no one knows the name of. Nice."

"Continue."

"And ... an Uchiha obsessed with revenge and holds little regard to teamwork."

"You understand why I gave these students to you, correct?"

Kakashi groans. _Every year, old man_. "You want me to give them a stern talking to about their weaknesses and send them back again. Why the Haruno? Why not the Hyuuga? Heard he was a disowned failure that acted like a huge princess."

The Hokage's expression becomes unreadable. "The Haruno doesn't understand her obsession with Sanada has led her to become, yes, intelligent, but severely lacking in any other jutsu. She only has her brain and nothing more. Hotaru being a failure to his clan is none of our business."

"Well, sure. But, putting a girl with a team of her role model is asking for trouble."

"However, the Hyuuga is excellent in taijutsu and has a basic grasp of ninjutsu. How would you fail a boy such as a him?"

"Hmm ... need more information. I'll stalk him and then give you my verdict." Kakashi slides back the papers. "Until then ... I'm going remove sand from places I didn't know sand could be."

* * *

"Oh. My. Kami. Monaka is in class today."

"Is ... is she sick?"

"No way! She's prolly under house arrest. But being an orphan means she's gotta come here."

"Somebody musta BRIBED her! There's coins her hair!"

"Yeah, why's she stickin' stuff to her head?!"

Inuzuka Kiba stares at his friend as she sits next to him, on time and not playing any pranks or interrupting class, unless attempting to stick coins on her forehead counts as one.

Monaka can feel her "friend's" uncertain negative energy, or nervousness. She ignores it, however her patience isn't infinite.

"What?!" she whisper-hisses, glaring.

Kiba remains unfazed. "Are you a ghost?"

"No! I'm tryna learn over here!" The lesson is about advanced history of Hoshigakure, so she's not really paying attention.

Kiba's puppy Akamaru (who's more on the white side than red) pops out his jacket and whimpers. Kiba nods. "Yeah, asked her that, too, but she still smells like her usual self. Maybe a little sweaty and grassy, but she's - " Akamaru whimpers again. "No, Akamaru! She does _not_ like me! You're as bad as Mom!"

Uchiha Sanada wants to ignore the redhead who's in the room since forever, but can't. She keeps glancing at the girl. _She's not doing anything. She's here. What happened yesterday? What? Is she ... poisoned?_

Sakura's friends all can't focus on the lesson because that redhead is being _good_. Sakura smirks as she continues _The Gutsy Ninja_ book.

* * *

The second to last day of Academy is very unusual.

Monaka is sent to the nurse seventeen times ( _there has to be SOMETHING wrong with her_ ) and 98 percent of the class completely zoned on the lecture - including the teacher - in favor of solving the case of Monaka No-Last-Name.

When the bell hits to signify the day is over, people can finally think and operate properly.

Sakura grabs her backpack, book tucked in her hands. "I'm off to train Monaka. See you later guys."

Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji pale.

"Y-You're serious?!" Ino grabs her shoulders. "Hey, SAKURA, you in there?!"

"Yes, Ino."

She lets go. "I ... I don't know what's happening, but ... if you got Monaka to act like a normal human being, I'm both terrified and jealous."

Sakura snorts. "You three can always follow me, y'know." She sticks her tongue out and heads over to Monaka.

The next Ino-Shika-Chou trio share a glance.

 _What did Sakura do that crazy girl?_

* * *

"That's Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji," says Sakura once they're out on the training field. "Monaka, introduce yourself."

"Hi! I'm Monaka! I remember you guys from when I used to go to Academy! You were that whiny girl, the sleepy guy, and the fa - "

Sakura slaps her hand over her mouth _but the damage is done_.

At first, Ino and Shikamaru were going to take offense, but she said the words that _shall never be spoken before Akimichi Chouji_.

Flames erupt from Chouji as he says, "Did you just call me fat?"

Monaka squeaks from his negative energy, voice muffled behind Sakura's hand. "Mnoph ... ?"

"'Cause I'm NOT fat. I'm just big boned."

"Fweah! To'ally fwue!"

Sakura removes her hand. "Uh ... okay! Let's get to training! How's your training going?"

"The coin sticks to my head!" Monaka demonstrates it to Sakura, who notices it lasts only about six seconds.

She claps. "Very good within twenty-four hours. Now, I want to see a jutsu!"

 _Ino's gonna see I'm an AMAZING sensei, shannaro! That'll show her I can be just as cool as she is!_

"Any jutsu?" Monaka says.

"Yeah, any jutsu you can do!"

The Ino-Shika-Chou stand behind Sakura, kinda _curious_. The dead last is actually performing jutsu. _Jutsu_. Amazing.

Monaka smiles and makes one hand seal. "Well, here it goes!"

She disappears into a cloud of smoke. The four wait eagerly for it to disperse -

"How's _this_ jutsu?"

A woman with floor length red hair stands, naked, sans from the puffs of smokes revealing anything too private.

"I call this my Sexy no Jutsu!" the woman says, with a _totemo kawaii_ voice.

3, 2, 1.

"MONAKA, WHAT THE HECK?!"

"THAT GIRL IS HOPELESS!"

Both Ino and Sakura combine their rage into their fists. Shikamaru and Chouji watch in horror and shame as the two girls scold-tackle Monaka.

* * *

 _It's been three hours so far. Three hours since Academy ended_. Hyuuga Hotaru sits beneath a tree and uses his Byakugan to see the field. _Monaka-chan ... is trying her hardest. She could probably do this!_

He smiles. _She's ... Monaka-chan is the best role model ever! I wish I could be as strong as her!_

"Ah, Hotaru! Thought I smelled ya!"

Hotaru almost has a heart attack. His fear shuts off his Byakugan not before he sees Kiba. "K-Kiba-kun?!"

Kiba sits beside him, in front of a bush, and peeks through the shrubbery to see the training. "Can ya believe this?! Lil red's actually trying her hardest to pass, and it's _working_!" Akamaru barks in agreement, tail wagging away at his side. "I remember three years ago, when I bet against her. She showed me wrong. She's totally crazy, but a good kind, ya know?"

Hotaru, too startled to restart his Byakugan, nods. But ... Kiba can't see that. "Y-Yes."

"Inuzuka? Hyuuga?"

The two look up the tree to find the owner of that quiet, dull voice. Sanada stares down, a tad suspicious, tad curious. "What are you doing out here?"

Uchiha Sanada wears her hair in a small bun with locks on the sides of her face. The bun is spiky and makes a sort of circle (that Monaka thinks resembles a bunny's butt). She has on a high collared kimono-like blouse with a white obi - or belt - and the now rare Uchiha crest on the back. She wears white shorts and mesh arm bands.

"We're checkin' out this girl's progress. Crazy, ain't it? Come down and watch - stop being so antisocial."

Sanada makes a small face and looks in the training field's direction.

 _This reminds me of our taijutsu fights. How even when I knocked you down, you always got back up again ..._

Something painful stabs her heart.

Those days where she was happy, innocent, had a family that loved her, a clan who accepted her. Those days where she liked the fact Monaka was her rival, because she felt the urge to get stronger.

Now, her days are filled of apathy, regret, and fury.

 _I swear if you don't pass, I'll - I'll -_

"Kiba-san, Hotaru-san, Sanada-san. You three are here to watch as well?"

"Shino-kun! U-Um, hello!" Hotaru bows to the bug boy as he watches the training session on his left. He turns around to watch, too.

"Did I miss anything? I had dinner."

"She's got the hang of Body Replacement no Jutsu, and now she's on Transformation no Jutsu. That's when ya change your appearance."

"I see."

Sanada furrows her brows. "Tch." She hops off the branch, attracting the attention of the hiding kids. She lands effortlessly and takes off to where Monaka is, all with Kiba whisper-shouting, "Sanada, waaaiiit! We're supposed to be _hiding_!"

Sakura and Ino both explain to a tired Monaka the mechanics of a Transformation. Shikamaru naps and Chouji continues eating. The peace is broken when Sanada appears.

"Sanada-chan!" Sakura and Ino say.

Monaka blinks. "Sanada?"

"Monaka," the Uchiha says. "You want to pass, right?"

She puffs her cheeks. "Duh!"

"Then fight me. If you can even land a hit on me, we'll all know you can pass, got it?"

Sakura and Ino startle at the ultimatum. Chouji slowly picks up his chip eating speed; the hiding kids startle as well. Monaka picks herself up.

"All I needa do is land a hit you?" she echoes. "Notta problem! You're going down, Sanada!"

Sanada gets into a ready stance, the stance being a trademark of Uchiha taijutsu. "We'll see."

Sakura pulls on her hair while Ino grins. "Oh man, Sakura, we get to see Sanada-chan fight!"

"Monaka can't fight! She's been training ALL DAY! She needs rest!" she complains, but no one listens.

 _Beat her up, Sanada-chan!_ Inner Sakura chants. _Sorry, Monaka, this fight isn't in your favor!_

 _Monaka-chan_! Hotaru feels faint.

"Go, Monaka!" Kiba grins, sharp canines in full view. "Never bet against that crazy girl!"

* * *

Monaka adjusts her goggles. "Let's go!"

"Hn." _Don't disappoint me, dead last._

Monaka makes the move, a predictable dash, a predictable fist pulled back for a punch, her right fist. Sanada sidesteps the punch - _That's how all our taijutsu fights began_ \- and sees Monaka throwing yet another predictable punch.

Sanada grabs this punch with a _smack_ as bone hits skin. It hurts only for a moment. The Uchiha yanks the redhead forward and lands a pulled kick on her stomach - the redhead coughs - and a chop to her shoulder.

Monaka stumbles backwards, holding her slightly numb shoulder as Sanada dashes towards her.

 _Just as predictable as ever. This is the moment where I knock her down_.

Monaka can't block the jump kick Sanada lands and falls back, skidding slightly.

 _Then she gets back up because her pride's hurt. Same old, same old._

Monaka gets to her feet with difficulty. Her goggles slide down her head from sweat; now it covers her eyes as if she's an airplane pilot. Those old, old goggles ... an orange band and lenses within a white frame. There used to be white parts on the sides, but those were broken long ago. The full moon above them shines off her goggles and hides her eyes, the glare creating a red-tinged halo effect.

She's ... smiling.

"I missed these days," she says. "The days when my adrenaline's pumping cuz I don't know if I can win."

 _What? You're still a big weirdo_. "So you admit you can't defeat me."

"Prolly not," she admits. "But! My goal's only to land one hit on ya, and I know I can do that, chunno!" With that, she dashes again.

Monaka performs a jump kick that Sanada blocks. Still in the air, she kicks once more, twice, all blocked. Monaka's movements are wide, slow, and sloppy. Any technique she does have carries obvious gaps and openings. Though she isn't weak - her hits would hurt anybody. As an Uchiha, Sanada already knows how to block to avoid the least amount of damage. As a result, when the two jump apart, her arms aren't burning in pain.

Sanada decides to charge first, release a volley of kicks with recoils so quick, Monaka can't grab a leg and retaliate. The redhead ends up kicked and bruised and falls down after the last hit.

But ... she rolls backwards to her feet and launches herself off the ground and to Sanada who hasn't moved. The Uchiha realizes she's too close to the girl and barely sidesteps the headbutt. The redhead winces at her near miss and flops awkwardly onto her belly away from Sanada.

 _Close_ , Sanada thinks. _But she's a dead last for a reason_.

Chouji speed-chomps his chips, Sakura and Ino watch and occasionally jump, the three hiding kids' guts twist.

 _A'ight, Monaka! Remember your ninja way_! She hops to her feet, unknowingly dodging a heel kick where her back was.

Sanada's kick cracks the ground; Monaka stumbles back with an idea in the making. The redhead then charges again, forming a hand seal.

 _What's that seal for?_ Sanada thinks, prepared to block any sort of ninjutsu.

"Take this, Sanada!" She disappears into a cloud of smoke.

 _What? A diversion? No, she wouldn't be that smart -_

The smoke _clears_.

"MONAKA!" Sakura hollers. "ENOUGH of that stupid jutsu!"

Hotaru covers his eyes immediately. _M-Monaka-chan!_

Sanada pauses for a long while in battle time to process the fact this idiot would _of course_ master such a stupid skill as turning into naked women. Why does this not surprise her?

In battle time, she pauses too long, for Monaka cancels the jutsu and a fists shoots out smoke, aiming for Sanada. Sanada knocks it off guard. The smoke is now gone.

The girls stay in their position, panting.

"Why ... ?" pants the Uchiha. "Why use a jutsu like that?"

"Why not!" she beams.

"Even so ... that technique didn't fool me."

"Yeah, well ... " She catches her breath. "This should!" She forms a tiger seal, a vague seal that could be used for forty jutsu with one seal. But because Monaka is a dead last, it's really between two jutsu, Academy jutsu.

She poofs into a log. Sanada has no time to be surprised. She can feel the displaced air behind her and swirls around, a left hand chop sliding along with her -

\- ready to chop into herself?

She falters only for a millisecond. Sanada is looking at a mirror image of herself, complete with her usual smirk - no, there's faults. Her eyes are too close, her face isn't right, and Sanada can see her normal onyx eyes has hints of orange. She continues with her -

"Haaa!" Sanada-Monaka shouts with a punch aiming for the elbow of Sanada's chopping hand. And the hits connect. Sanada's chop knocks into Sanada-Monaka's shoulder; the latter's punch hits Sanada's elbow.

The now redhead grins. "I win!"

Sanada hides her emotions, but can't completely hide her awe. "In a real fight, you would no longer have the use of your arm."

"Yeah, but this ain't a real fight!" Sanada drops her hand and Monaka has her usual mischievous-looking smile as she holds onto her limp arm.

The two best friends trade a look of awe.

"Monaka just hit ... " mumbles Ino.

" ... Sanada-chan?" The pink-haired girl blinks, then a wicked smile appears. " _Shannaro_! Y'see THAT? THAT'S MY TEACHING! I'm the BEST sensei ever!"

Ino slumps. "I ... I feel like my life is a lie. That dummy actually has a shot at winning."

Kiba laughs victoriously and Akamaru howls. "I knew it! Told ya so!"

Hotaru smiles with pink cheeks. _Great job, Monaka-chan!_

Shino observes his friend's admiring look. _This Monaka ... I suppose it is alright for him to believe in her now. I will no longer underestimate her._

Chouji claps loudly, waking a a dazed Shikamaru. "What's with all this racket? Geez."

"You missed it!" cries Chouji. "Monaka and Sanada fought and Monaka won!"

"Say what?! You're lying, Chouji!"

"No, no, it's completely true! They're just over there!"

"Aw, man, how troublesome. Everybody's gonna be talking about this and I missed it."

" _Missed it_?!" Ino turns around. "You missed a fight of a LIFETIME just 'cause you're lazy?! I swear, Shika! You're such a dummy sometimes!"

The Nara shrugs.

Sakura observes Monaka's limp arm; Sanada watches, but doesn't pay much attention, rubbing her sore elbow.

 _A Body Replacement mixed in with Transformation. It's really simple yet effective._ She smiles. _This is the rival I knew._

* * *

The way the apartment is set up is that the Western-style bed is positioned underneath the window, allow fresh sunlight to drip in once a new day begins. There's a bedside table to the left with a penguin alarm clock and red lamp; to complement the small room, there's a closet, random pranks, traps, and cleaned ramen cups over the floor as a "collectible" in the pursuit of collecting all flavors.

Down the short hall is a bathroom to the left and a living room on one half, kitchen on the other. Nothing dangerous works, such as the stove and oven, plus there are only silver spoons and forks, chopsticks, and plastic knives. The living consists of one couch and a table, with decorations and messes living in harmony.

Around seven everyday, the sun's brightness wakes up Monaka. She gets up both yawning and stretching, and her shoulder-length hair is a disaster. She reaches into the drawer of her table and grabs her big brush, taking a glance at the calendar.

 _I think I only slept an hour last night ... or this morning. Today is ... the eleventh of April. Which means ..._

She grins. _Academy TEST day!_

She blazes through her morning routine all while brushing her hair, pausing to put on her usual outfit, and drops the brush somewhere in her living room as she cooks breakfast: ramen and orange juice. She'd drink milk but ... she can never tell when it's spoiled or not, which led to her getting _too_ familiar with toilets.

 _If toilets could have a mind they'd hate me!_ she thinks while taking her time eating. _Actually ... if toilets had a mind, I think I'd hate them, too_.

Around eight, she leaves her home and strolls to the Academy with a wide smile. Konoha is really empty, which is weird. There's always somebody awake and working or taking a stroll, but she ignores that.

When she sees the Academy, a building positioned right on the base of the Hokage Mountain, in which the four faces of Konoha's four kage watch over their home, she also notices the faces look _funny._

 _Nah ... I'm going crazy. Prolly nerves cuz of the test is all!_

She continues that thought until she passes the swing. Something cold - like a force or energy - overtakes her body from outside to in. She feels weightless as the world turns black before her eyes ...

... the stars are pretty.

Monaka blinks and sits up. Seems like she was lying on the training field at the Academy. She rubs her eyes.

"Ah, Monaka, there you are."

She shoots the newcomer a sleepy glare. It's Mizuki-sensei who used to be Iruka's assistant but now works on his own thing. " ... am I in trouble? No more nurse visits, right?"

"No, no, not at all. You know, I've been watching you train with your friends, and, sadly, you don't have any chance at passing."

The sleepiness vanishes; she leaps to her feet. "What?"

"Sanada-chan faked your win," he continues, still smiling pleasantly. "All your friends have been lying to you."

... _what? No ... why?_ Monaka drops to her knees, rubbing her stinging eyes. _Why would they lie_ ... ?

Eating ramen with Sakura, her fight with Sanada, everyone's smiles and congratulations - the first time she's ever been _congratulated and that's fake?_

"However, I _won't_ lie to you. In fact, I'll teach you the way to pass the Academy test with a perfect score!"

Her eyes look hopeful. "Please tell me, Mizuki-sensei! I ... I want to become Hokage, no matter if my friends lie me!"

Mizuki easily produces a small scroll that he tosses to the redhead. "That's the map. Your goal is to sneak into Hokage-sama's office, take the kinjutsu scroll, and master as many abilities as you can! If you can learn at least ten abilities, you're more than worthy for promotion! After all, a Hokage must be strong!"

Her eyes twinkle. "Awesome, ch'no! But why is the scroll called forbidden techniques?"

"It's labelled as such to keep away the unworthy ninja," he explains. "Now, get a move on. The office is right around the block."

She grins and hops to her feet. "Okay, sensei!"

* * *

 _Miki is here. Mishigure is here. Monaka is_...

Iruka looks out the Academy doors and into the bright light of day. _Where is she? She's really late ..._

Footsteps increase in volume until the person stops right beside Umino Iruka. "You seem troubled."

"She's late. I can't believe she's late - it doesn't make _sense_ , Mizuki."

"Hmm." He puts a finger on his chin. "Then ... maybe reality kicked in? Or ... nerves? Either way, it's not a big loss. She's a murderer. Come on, let's start the testing."

Iruka sighs. _You said you keep your word and the ramen - why did you lie?_

"Fine, let's start."

Mizuki closes the door after his _friend_ , a wicked smirk visible.

The figure in the trees watches it all, mentally sighing.

 _Geez, this guy's a problem. Can't a guy have a day off without walking into conspiracies?_ He snaps his book shut with one hand. _Let's get this over with_.

* * *

After months of exotic pranks, Monaka has found all sorts of ways of getting around quickly - something pretty useful against the fast Chuunin.

Under the cover of night, Monaka slides through town using clotheslines. She does suffer rope burn, but she's a fast healer - it always goes away.

She can see the tower's window entrance from the final roof on her journey. That's the very window she used hop through to talk to the Hokage.

 _Oh ... haven't talked to the old man in forever_. The redhead shakes away the sadness and holds the scroll in her mouth. With a running start, she hops onto the line and slides. The wind whips her hair and howls all around her just like when she would swing on the swingset.

By muscle memory, she times her let-go and sails through the window flawlessly.

Unfortunately, she forgot how to land properly, and slides on the Hokage's desk sending papers, ink, and other documents flying as she crashes into the wall upside down.

All Monaka sees are stars.

 _Hahah ... whoops ... that wasn't too loud was it?_

It was too loud. Thankfully the tower is empty because even the Hokage must sleep. Still, she can feel the tiniest amount of negative energy. Monaka is positive no one could be around and ignores it.

She spits out the scroll and opens the map.

She blows a paper sagging on her head. "Just a left then a right and it's the third door. Easy!"

At night, the tower becomes all too tall, with the windows making all the shadows long and dark. The tower is made up of four, large floors that make the tower one of the tallest building. The doors are wooden, each with their own idiosyncrasies so as to stand out. The Hokage's office is the absolute largest and is connected to a waiting room just outside its double doors.

The next rooms surrounds the main tower (the Hokage's office) in a spiral just below the domed room. In an event of an intrusion, the rooms are designed to trick a shinobi into walking in circles until the word has no meaning.

That doesn't happen to Monaka. Everything is easy and quiet.

She makes it to the room. It's circular, as are most rooms, with scrolls lining the walls of the window-less area.

 _The maps says the scroll should be here_ ...

Three large scrolls stand above the fireplace, the only light source. Monaka doesn't know what the three of them mean only that she is to grab the green one on the left.

The scrolls are officially called the Three Scrolls of Konoha.

The first one, on the right, is yellow. It is the Scroll of Taijutsu. It lists all the taijutsu techniques normal or even above average shinobi could not perform without seriously damaging themself or causing death.

The one on the far left is the Scroll of Seals. From ninjutsu to sealing techniques, these are the abilities that, if a certain ninja does not meet the requirements, will potentially kill themself.

The middle is the Scroll of Genjutsu. Only some of the techniques could kill the user. The majority pertains to the result of the affected person. The genjutsu techniques listed will most likely kill the opponent. As such, the techniques will never, ever be taught to any shinobi unless under highly specific circumstances, and usually the Hokage is the only person who is permitted to learn one.

One of the genjutsu techniques is the Mind Absolution no Jutsu, a technique devised during the end of the Third Shinobi World War against the Lightning shinobi. The shinobi had a strong sense of nationalism; they wouldn't back down from fighting, not even if they were losing.

The Konoha shinobi who created this technique - Morino Ibiki - did, to say the least, polluted their minds. That sort of "pollution" had given the Konoha shinobi an easy win without any kunai or jutsu used. They didn't kill the shinobi, simply let them go back to their home country and by the end of the week, the Land of Lightning withdrew from the fight.

(Small wonder why the Kumo shinobi captured Hyuuga Hotaru.)

But the redhead does not know any of this. Instead, Monaka easily grabs the scroll and jumps out the hallway window, darting off to the designated meeting space.

* * *

"Okay! All I needa do is master these techniques, and I'll pass!" Monaka drops the huge scroll on the ground and rolls it open to the first technique under the moonlit sky.

The first skill is the _Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ , Multi Shadow Clone no Jutsu.

 _The Multi Shadow Clone no Jutsu is derived from the regular jutsu "Shadow Clone no Jutsu." The regular jutsu divides the ninja into two, separate people using just chakra and chakra control. The Multi Shadow Clone technique takes it a step further by creating more than two clones._

 _It is a very dangerous technique because a ninja can only make four clones before feeling faint from chakra exhaustion; six clones leads to death. Because the idea team number is usually three or four, many deaths from the First War were contributed to Multi Shadow Clone technique, approximately in the thousands._

 _The jutsu works as if you are filling a glass halfway with water. Then you divide that water among several cups, watching as the total water grows thin. A person needs sufficient chakra to live._

 _To preform the technique, a person must first recognize their chakra as a collective whole, then imagine separating that chakra multiple times. More chakra control leads to the chakra being more equally divided. More chakra leads to more clones being produced, with the God of Shinobi, Sarutobi Hiruzen, creating ten clones in his prime, the absolute highest._

" _Yoshi_! This seems really, really cool!" Monaka follows the hand seal that's drawn on the paper and focuses on her chakra.

There's a large, large amount, she can tell. Feeling a little arrogant, she decides to "cut" her chakra multiple times, well beyond that _measly ten clone limit_ the Third Hokage set. Maybe she slices it a hundred times. All she knows is that there's a huge puff of smoke and the distinct feeling that chakra has minimized.

"Yeah! First try! Wait, what?!"

 _Why's my voice so high pitched_?! When the smoke clears, she sees the scroll as freakishly tall. _What the_ \- ?

She turns to see her clones and she (plus her copies) almost preforms _multi heart attack no jutsu._

"Oh my kami - "

"We're ... we're ... !"

" _Chibi Monaka_!"

Almost a hundred clones squeak in horror to find themselves half a foot tall and _chibi-fied_.

"Gwaaah!" one chibi shouts. "How do we release the jutsu?!"

"The scroll! The scroll has all the answers!"

One Chibi Monaka is perched on the large roll of paper looking down at the instructions. "Uh ... to cancel, you just need to imagine all the chakra and smush it together again!"

"Great, let's do it!"

"Aw, I like looking kawaii!"

"Look how huge this tree is!" A Chibi Monaka points at a titanic tree.

"Imagine the pranks we could do! Fuhahaha!"

"No, we gotta pass the test first, retards!"

"Who you callin' a retard?!"

"You, stupid!"

"We're the same person!"

"Maybe, but you look stupider than me!"

"Guys, guys!" squeaks the Chibi Monaka still on the scroll. "We don't have all night, ch'no! Let's change back, okay?!"

"Okay!" The Chibi Monaka make the hand seal. "Cancel!"

Another puff of smoke and Monaka is back to her normal, human self. She chuckles while scratching her head.

"Man, my chakra control sucks ... Next time, I won't make so many, haha!"

* * *

"You _sure_ she's here?" Iruka says for the umpteenth time.

Hatake Kakashi deadpans. "I'm positive, Iruka. I can track her scent and I _know_ she went this way."

"Man, why would she do this? Why did she steal the scroll?"

"Who knows?" lies the man. "But I get the feeling our questions will get answers soon."

 _The Hokage surveyed the damage in his office and the missing scroll. "Well done, Kakashi. You and I both realize there is not possible way for Monaka to have known about this scroll."_

" _I've already got the culprit in mind. This plan is clever, though," Kakashi said, relaxing on the door frame. "The seal mistress Kushina programmed the scrolls to fry anyone she didn't certify, like you Hokage-sama. Since she's dead, she couldn't add any more names after the Kyuubi attack."_

 _The Hokage stared grimly into the fireplace. "Keep this quiet. Find the culprit, bring him to me, and replace the scroll. Make sure Danzou won't find out. If he does, he and the council will become rather ... "_

 _"Troublesome?" smirked the masked man. The Hokage heard the humor in his tone, though._

 _"Very."_

"Iruka, there's a barrier right there." He points to a plain-looking, empty plot of forest. "You go in; I'll be the backup."

Iruka squints but sees nothing. "How can you tell?"

"Been around multiple people who were fuuinjutsu crazy. You get used to it. Now, go save your student."

Iruka smiles. "Thanks, Kakashi."

* * *

A bruised, exhausted Monaka unrolls the scroll to reveal a second jutsu, but finds a neatly folded paper with the Hokage seal. She opens it, not thinking about if she's reading something highly confidential or anything. It's a paper written with fast, yet extremely elegant and legible handwriting.

Being curious, she reads on.

 _3 May, 30 NE_

 _Official name: The Hyuuga Clan's Secret Sealing Technique_

 _My name because it's a little long: The Caged Bird Seal_

"Hey ... don't I have a Hyuuga classmate?" she wonders out loud.

 _I talked to Hiashi-kun about the Caged Bird Seal. We've been teammates, but we haven't been in contact for a long time, with me and my new team and him being promoted to Head Leader._

 _I'm really proud of him!_

 _I appealed to him as his teammate and not as the Fourth Hokage, and he explained the seal in great detail, also warning me not to do anything rash with the information. It seems the reason it's kept is to protect the main family's secret from Hyuuga traitors just like it's happened in the past. Even he won't explain what the secret is._

 _Without further ado, The Caged Bird Seal is a fuuinjutsu ability with an Uzumaki flare in its central workings. The entire seal is placed on the middle of the forehead where the "special organ" is located in. The special organ (equivalent to an appendix, a vestigial organ almost) is what gives the Hyuuga the pale white eyes. Without it, I don't know if the Hyuuga will still have their pale eyes, but I do know that organ can be shut down. The Hyuuga insist the seal only shuts down the eyes when a branch family dies._

Monaka refolds the letter (sloppily) with shut eyes. _He's just ramblin' about some weird seal. But, it's the Fourth Hokage! He risked his life to save me! Me!_ She opens her orange and blue jacket and puts the letter in her inner pocket.

"Alright! The next jutsu is ... "

"Monaka?!"

She looks up to see the tired, curious face of her sensei, Iruka. "Oh, hey there! You're just in time, Iruka-sensei - I learned something called the Multi Shadow Clone no Jutsu!"

But her sensei doesn't applaud her efforts, only wincing. "Monaka, that's impossible. What are you doing with this scroll? There's no way you could know this even existed ... "

... there's no way she knew this, right?

Monaka starts to sense tiny traces of negative energy coming from her sensei, turning her grin into a glare.

"What, ch'no?! Why aren't you happy?! And how'd you even find me, Iruka-sensei?"

"Kakashi told me he saw you somewhere here," he explains, remaining vague. "There's a weird barrier here that keeps your chakra hidden from other shinobi. As I said, where did you find this scroll?"

The little girl growls quietly. "My sensei told me about the scroll AND this place! He said that if I learn every one of these jutsu, you'd pass me with flying colors, so why aren't you happy, ch'no?! You here to lie to me, too?!"

" _Lie?!_ I didn't lie to you. I would _never lie to you!_ "

"But that's what Mizuki-sensei said! You guys can't BOTH be right!"

Iruka blanches. "Mizuki? What do you mean _Mizuki_?!"

"She means me."

As soon as Iruka entered the Mizuki, so did Mizuki. Now he stands on a tree branch overlooking his "friend."

He meets his "friend's" startled look with a smirk of his own. "Iruka, Iruka, Iruka, you just can't understand she's a murderer. You constantly treat her like she's an _innocent_ and now you've got the rest of the class doing it, too. I don't care if you're _corrupting_ yourself, but I draw the line at corrupting others!"

"C-Corrupting?!" Iruka blurts.

Monaka looks between the Chuunin. "Hey, I'm not ... I ... I ain't corruptin' anybody, ch'no!"

" _And_ ," he adds, "once she and you are arrested for stealing the Hokage-sama's Scroll of Seals, I'll go free because there's zero evidence leading back to me, but _plenty_ for you, Iruka! Everyone knows she's your favorite student."

"Arrested?!" squeaks the redhead. There's no way a Hokage was arrested.

"Mizuki, this is insane!" Iruka _isn't_ worried. He knows Kakashi and the Hokage know. "You're going to be the one being arrested!"

"Word to the future jail bird," Mizuki says to Monaka, ignoring him completely, "there's a secret that the village is keeping from you, ya know."

 _No way. He isn't, he totally isn't!_

Monaka crosses her arms over her chest and grumbles. "No duhhh! I've NEVER wondered why people always hated me. Just how STUPID do ya think I am, chunno?! I swear, I'll beat you myself, JERKFACE!"

"Monaka, this is _serious_ ," Iruka says.

"Ten years ago on October fourteenth, the Fourth died. Do you know why? He died to the Nine Tailed Fox, the Kyuubi! That's the story everyone knows, everyone born after the year 35. But I know, and Iruka knows. We know where the Kyuubi is - the Fourth never killed the beast; that beast outclassed every shinobi in existence! He sealed the beast into a human, transforming them into a jinchuuriki!"

" _Mizuki, this is forbidden!_ Keep talking and you're definitely getting _arrested yourself!_ "

Monaka frowns, interested. "Jinchuuriki? That's the big secret? Why is that such a big deal?"

"The human he put it in was a _newborn_. An orphan who's parents were killed in the attack - that was probably his intention to place it into a nobody child, because I sure as heck wouldn't offer me or my family to a beast. And, newsflash, that baby was _you_ , Monaka."

Monaka blanches. "Wh ... me?"

 _You're the reason so many people were murdered, the reason the Fourth died_ ...

No. Nonono! There's a murderous, violent, catastrophic beast locked within HER and NOBODY told her she's part human, part chakra monster, oh no!

The ten year old drops to her knees. _No no no ... I don't want to be a beast ... not the Kyuubi jin ... whatever_! Monaka's fear does a weird thing ... instead of freezing her to one spot where she can sink into despair, it _burns_. It bleeds into anger.

"Th ... That's not FAIR! I didn't ASK to be a jinchuuriki! Why ME?" She punches the ground as she speaks.

"Monaka," Iruka mumbles, grimacing at the broken look on her. " ... you're not the mon - "

"Finally someone's told her TRUTH, but Iruka you're still not giving up on her, huh?" He pulls out a kunai, spinning it on its ring. "That can be handled."

Iruka grabs his own kunai. "Monaka, get out of here!"

She blinks up from her anger. " ... what?"

Mizuki throws three kunai, all that Iruka dodges. While dodging the last kunai, he barely sees his friend crouching at the base of tree from the end of a jump and throws both fuuma shuriken at Iruka.

It's easier to dodge the heavy metal; it slices through the trees behind him. The trees tilt away from the fight as Iruka dashes towards his "friend," releasing shuriken from both hands. Mizuki deflects most with his kunai, the rest ripping a red line on his legs and arm.

Monaka watches the fight only in confusion. First she thought everyone lied to her, then Mizuki was lying about that so, everyone _cares_ for her, right? That's the reason Iruka-sensei is fighting Mizuki, because he _cares_?

But..why did he hide such information about her? Why did he hide she was a demon? Why did everyone hide that?

Monaka is too young to understand the grays in morality, but she _knows_ the worst one here is Mizuki-sensei.

The two engage in a taijutsu battle, with Iruka and Mizuki normal and average moves, only with Mizuki being less civilized and more likely to play dirty. Iruka's only goal between his pulled punches and only redirecting Mizuki's fatal hits is to subdue his once friend.

And Mizuki thinks that it might be working.

He dashes away, panting, and eyes briefly flicker to something behind Iruka. He looks and sees nothing. By the time he glances back, he sees the chakra strings glaring under the light of the moon. Then Mizuki yanks his hand back.

The first fuuma shuriken rips through the air where Iruka was. The second - he sees from his crouch - aims for -

Monaka barely registers something spiraling towards her when she hears a wet _thunk_. She blinks.

"I ... Iruka-sensei!" He teacher stands ... trembling ... and the shadow shows the shuriken embedded into his back. The redhead hears the blood dripping quickly.

Mizuki grins at his success. "Well then, I didn't plan for your death, but we can assume the jinchuuriki did it, right?"

Iruka falls to his knees, wincing at the blade that's just next to his spine; it scratches against his vertebrae, his bottom rib cage, and any internal organs in the middle.

"Iruka-sensei!" she repeats. _Please tell me I didn't kill him, too! Too many people keep dying because of me!_

"M-Monaka ... it's true you're the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi," he mumbles because these may be his last words. "The Kyuubi killed my parents, and I ... I hated you just like everyone else. I saw you ... as the beast and the sole reason the Fourth died, but ... by being your sensei, I saw I was wrong. You're not a monster ... you're a human just like the rest of us, a slightly unlucky human."

Monaka can't help the tears that roll down her cheeks. "Th ... thank you. You're the best, Iruka-sensei. So ... don't you dare die right here, okay? Sensei can't die on their students, ch'no! That's ... " She trails off.

" ... that's totally uncool?" he smiles wearily.

Monaka smiles back. "Yeah."

 _This is stupid_. Mizuki clears his throat loudly. "Please stop" he makes random gestures with his hand "whatever that was. Or I'll kill him."

The redhead rubs away her tears and places on her orange goggles. She turns, standing in front of Iruka, and states, "If you hurt Iruka-sensei anymore, you're gonna hafta deal with me, Mizuki-sensei."

He rolls his eyes. "So terrified of an Academy dead last."

"That's _Monaka_ to you! Monaka No-Last-Name, Academy dead last and jinchuuriki who's gonna kick your ass."

"Watch it, kid. I'll kill the both of you."

"Hmph! Try it!" She makes one hand seal.

 _Good thing she's one of the more dumb jinchuuriki_. He uses his chakra string to hook on the fuuma shuriken on the ground.

Monaka races towards him. "Multi Shadow Clone no Jutsu!"

 _Did ... did she say her technique out loud? What._

"No, that'll kill you!" Iruka shouts, but starts coughing soon after.

And a puff of smoke engulfs her. Out smoke are hundreds of - !

Hundreds of half a foot tall midgets? Mizuki completely drops his guard. "What the hell is this?!"

" _Chibi Monaka Barrage_!" squeaks hundreds of chibi who swarm Mizuki like locusts. He barely manages to preform Body Replacement to get away.

"What in the - ?! What?!" he sputters. _The scroll made her make chibi versions of herself? What?!_

Iruka looks just as dazed as he is. "Chibi art is ... forbidden now?"

The Chibi Monaka continue tackling the log -

"Wait! This is a log!"

"He did the Body Replacement no Jutsu!"

"We fell for it! Normally Sanada falls for it!"

One Chibi cackles. "Every time. Every time ... "

"He's over there! Get him!"

There's nothing threatening about an army of chibi brats. There's not.

Mizuki shakes his head. "You ... I ... just ... _no_. I'm - I'm bailing. Goodbye." He Body Flickers out the clearing.

The army stops. "He gone."

"What do we do now?"

"Look at this huge flower!"

"I'm hungry."

"Me too."

"Me three!"

Chibi tummy growling sound throughout the army.

"Can we go to Ichiraku's like this?"

"Probably."

"Let's go! I wanna fill my chibi _face_!"

"Y'know, Chibi Monaka doesn't have a ring to it ... "

"How! About! Mini! Monaka!" shouts the chibi climbing a flower.

"Wait! We have to help Iruka-sensei first!"

"Oh yeah ... he payin' for our ramen, guys!"

And that's how over a hundred Monaka tackle Iruka into a hug.

* * *

Mizuki just managed to clear the barrier. Looking back, he sees nothing out of the ordinary or feel any chakra. It's the perfect barrier the seal mistress created -

A fist comes from out the darkness and meets his face, sending _him_ into darkness.

* * *

"Sh ... She turned into chibi clones?" the Third Hokage says.

"It's hard to believe myself, hehe." Iruka no longer wears his shirt, but bandages while a medic-nin continues to heal his wounds. Monaka lies, sleeping from chakra exhaustion. "So, um, about Monaka graduating ... ?"

The Hokage was also looking at the dozing girl. "She did not partake in the test this morning, but this could count as a test, hmm?"

"Honestly, I would give this test to my team if a had one," adds Hatake Kakashi lazily and from his slouch on a tree trunk next to Monaka.

"You don't count!" Iruka scolds. "You're sadistic!"

"Am not. I'm just a jolly old man."

"A jolly old pervert is more likely."

"Hey, you're confusing me with the other pervert. I may read pervy books, but I like to call it voyeurism."

"Shut up, Hatake."

The Hokage ignores their entire conversation while he was thinking. "I ... do think the only way I can safely permit her is by giving her to Kakashi."

"Haaaaah?" Iruka gapes.

"We all know Kakashi is a 'fail sensei,' however, it's the only way. I never expected her to graduate so soon, but since she did not take an official test, I cannot give her to an official sensei without irritating people."

Iruka slouches. "Well, close enough. If she can join a team, I'll take it! Even if he's supposed to fail all his students ... " He slouches again.

"Oh, speaking of me," says Kakashi, "I knew Mizuki did from the moment you closed doors to testing."

"You knew WHAT?!"

"I was stalking the Hyuuga kid and I walked into a conspiracy." He shrugs. "It tends to happen a lot."

Iruka's eyes bug out his head. "You can't just WALK into conspiracies!"

"But I did. It's hard to believe myself," he says, echoing Iruka's words. "Mizuki made her fall asleep via a genjutsu induced sleep until he woke her at around two in the morning. By the way, my stalking has gotten results as to why I should get the Hyuuga."

"Speak," the Hokage acknowledges, Iruka looking curious.

"The Haruno was a Sanada stalker, well the Hyuuga is a Monaka stalker. Ergo, the Hyuuga is mine to fail."

Iruka smacks his palm to his forehead. The Hokage only says, "Fine, Kakashi. Kurenai also asked me to have Sakura for her affinity to genjutsu."

"Ah, happy end for all."

"Yes. She also mentioned a certain Hatake told her to say that. Said something about Asuma, my _son_ , as well."

Kakashi snaps his book shut. "Look at the time! It's half past time to go, see ya." He flickers away.

The Hokage sees dawn breaking the horizon. "It's about six. Academy starts at nine. Iruka, please tell Monaka what happened here is confidential. And that she has passed the test. Do not lie; it seems that lying is a sensitive topic."

He nods. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"She can keep the technique as well, as it appears it isn't likely to kill her, but please remember to tell her some of the techniques in the scroll _will_. With that, I will leave - "

"Ah, Hokage-sama, one more thing! I ... promised her I'd give her ramen if she passed, you know ... "

The old man smiles. "You'd best not go back on your word, Iruka."

* * *

Monaka slowly wakes to yummy smells and bright lights. She rubs her eyes and reaches to pull down her goggles, but finds cold metal on her forehead.

She snaps awake.

 _Wait a minute ... is this ... ?_

"Morning, Monaka!"

She turns right. "Iruka-sensei?! You're okay!" She looks at his bowl of ramen and her tummy rumbles. "Oooh, ramen!"

"Eat it up! We've only got an hour to Academy, graduate!"

"Graduate? Whatty?"

"Your forehead has a hitai-ate. Only graduates get that."

Monaka stares at her sensei as she blindly unties the object wrapped around her head and looks down.

 _My ... my very own .._.

"HITAI-ATE! I PASSED!" She jumps on her stool. "The FUTURE HOKAGE WINS AGAIN! FUHAHAHAHA!"

"Monaka, shh! People are still sleeping!" Iruka sweatdrops, looking around in the empty Ichiraku shop.

She drops into her seat. "Hey, what happened last night?"

"Mizuki-sensei is gone and everything else is confidential. Meaning you speak about it, you get in trouble." She gulps. "But, Hokage-sama said you'll be promoted anyways. Congrats."

Monaka chuckles as she starts her bowl of ramen. "S'okay! Cuz ... this is probably the best day of my life _ever_!"


	4. Episode 4, Genin Days Arc 1

Friday was the last day of Academy. It was only opened from nine til twelve to accommodate for the testers. Naturally, there wasn't as many as last year's with the early graduates, and all, but the ones who didn't make the cut, who didn't make the "Third," sat down to preform a writing test.

The ones who did were put under a genjutsu so powerful not even they could feel its presence or break free and were given the real test.

The test was tailored to their weaknesses, to see if they would overcome them in the face of adversity. The second portion was to see if they could use their Academy training to survive. If the genjutsu was broken before its determined end, the student could have only failed at a battle. Escape is impossible.

Afterwards, the student is given a survey and interview over what they saw, what they did, what they know. If the survey is deemed well done, then the children - who left for lunch at 11:30 and head back by twelve - are awarded their new hitai-ate.

However, some parents consider the genjutsu test to be cruel, or needlessly difficult for such young children. Three years ago, the 42th class, there was a boy named Ayasato Hideaki. His only weakness was the fear of death. That fear left the boy frozen while his peers suffered ... in a hypothetical situation. Obviously the test was centered around on the weakness, but instead of overcoming the weakness, it only made it worse.

Mothers protested the Academy test, saying competent shinobi should not take such a cruel and sneaky test as that. The Academy replied the life of a shinobi _is_ cruel, _is_ sneaky, and _filled_ with death, so it was for the best the boy failed.

Still ...

With her weakness being obsessed with revenge and to kill her brother, Uchiha Sanada had quite the experience.

All she remembers is that she was at the training grounds practicing and practicing to prepare for her battle with the traitor and murderer that weaseled his way into _her family_ , Uchiha Itachi.

Her hands flips through the signs like she's practiced for three years straight, ending with the tiger seal.

 _Fire Release:_

She draws her hand close to her mouth as she inhales a large amount of air.

 _Fireball no Jutsu_

Contrary to its name, it's less fireball-like and more like a wave of heat uncannily similar to a dragon breathing fire. The fire burns the training dummy. Sanada, unsatisfied, surges up to object and flicks out her kunai, slicing its torso open. Stuffing and metal fall out, completely unburnt.

" _Tch_." _That's not good enough_. Her fingers wrap around the kunai like a snake does its next meal before throwing the weapon back into her pouch and turning to the next dummy to char. _Fire Release_ -

"Fireball no jutsu."

Sanada is given no time for shock, only allowing instincts to take over, instincts that has her body leaping out the way from a massive fireball that not only burns her target, but incinerates the dummy and nearby area around it. She lands on her feet cat-like, safely away and allows her panic to set it seeing the black smoke and small fires before her. Then she remembers the _voice_ half a second later and looks in the direction.

There _that_ _man_ remains, coolly observing her with his new black robes with red clouds (what does that mean? - who _cares_? that's not _important_ ) and says the words that makes Sanada's shock bleed into anger.

"You're still too weak, _little sister_."

* * *

 **SHINOBI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

 **Genin Days Arc**

 **Episode 4**

 **The Graduation of the 45th Class!**

 **Synopsis** _: Graduating two years earlier, the students falling in the Third (meaning one third of total population must be shinobi to keep from corruption) recap their experiences taking the true Academy test._

 _A/N: I don't know how obvious this is, but I had no idea what pacing was. Research says it's how fast/slow a story goes. I've spent three chapters bringing you into my alternate world, but I wonder if I'm going too fast and if you guys can't handle my speed? This is a whole new world and I naturally like fast-paced things, after all. So, this chapter's pace will take you through the story slower._

 **April, 45 years NE**

 **Monaka: 10 years, 6 months**

 **Rewrote/Posted: 10** **, May 2016**

* * *

 _Still too weak? Still too weak?! Like he has any right to say that!_

Uchiha Itachi was a prodigy, Sanada already knows this. It's the reason he stole her father's attention constantly and the reason she only got one day to spend real time with her father before Itachi killed the man.

Itachi is a jealous, disgusting person.

"Itachi," she says, voice tight to keep from shaking via pent up fury. "You were such the genius. You graduated at a young age, joined ANBU at a young age, became genocidal at a young age - oh, wait." She sneers. "That last one didn't turn out so well for you, _didn't it_?"

Itachi narrows his eyes. "The only way you can defeat me are those _eyes_. You must kill your best friend for eyes like mine."

"Bull, Itachi! You killed Shisui just so you could get those eyes?! How manipulative are you?!"

She remembers all the times Itachi poked her forehead and left her. She remembers very little of the two of them spending time together. Only one occasion sticks out.

 _Six-year-old Sanada was scared to go home. Her cheek was red and swollen from her taijutsu spar at the Academy with that wacky redhead who, annoyingly, heals really fast and whose chakra feels creepy. When Sanada met her in the nurse's office to tease the weirdo about her win, Monaka hit her jaw._

I can't go home like this, _she thought._ Father would totally be embarrassed to see his daughter get beat up by an orphan. _She groaned and sat down in a dark alley near the heart of Konoha's marketplace, one hand cupping her bruise._

Present Sanada shakes her head to focus on the current threat. She's supposed to kill him, the manipulative murderer, but she _can't_. Not yet. She's only a ten-year-old girl who is trying to graduate Academy. There is _no way_ possible she can defeat a prodigy and a man five years older with more experience than her.

Logic still can't completely convince irrational anger. Anger wants her to fight anyways. Anger doesn't care if Itachi can actually make a fireball whereas Sanada can make a wave of fire. Anger also doesn't care that he has those _eyes_.

 _You must kill your best friend for eyes like mine_ ...

... a "friend?"

She doesn't _have_ any friends; how could she _possibly_ want to make friends with the people she has to constantly lie and hide to?

 _Yes, Itachi did it_ , she said for her interview, only answering what the Third Hokage told her. _No, I didn't see it, I only saw him leaving. I stayed at Academy later than usual to practice around ... nine? I left. How'd he kill them?! Why're you asking a seven-year-old?! We have doctors, ask them!_

Following that, by the end of year 42, her classmates were totally infatuated with her ability to pull herself together.

And they're completely wrong.

No way in hell was she going to the orphanage, not after she heard of abductions of the orphan kids and not a single had been found. There were a few half-Uchiha who were cast out being a "mutt," and all, but Sanada despised the cowards who didn't want to fight their family's death and liked their new _freedom_.

In addition to that, there's the god-awful "pact" that the Four Head Clans of Konoha - Uchiha, Hyuuga, Akimichi, and Aburame - made. She could go live in one clan within their custom Uchiha compound. She doesn't like bugs, didn't like the Akimichi's touchy-feely-ness, and hated the Hyuuga because her clan and them are natural rivals.

Nope, after her house was cleaned, she grabbed her pillow, blanket, and futon from the Hokage's guest room, and head back to her empty compound where the silence gets so intense, she can hallucinate. She gets to walk past her parent's murder scene every time she wants to do anything, like eating. She _had_ to go to therapy with some _weirdo_ named Yamanaka Inoichi, and hide just as much from him like everyone else. She was not coping. The silence. The stares of pity to gratefulness for her clan's genocide. The memories of a better time. The regret. There's no way she could cope with that; its easier to just pretend or to not feel anything and run away from the real problem.

 _Yes, the girl with her bruised cheek found it much more appealing to run away from the problem instead of facing it. She's perfectly fine with standing outside in hot Konoha despite being in shade of a nearby building than meeting her parents._

Needless to say, anger wins and logic losses.

 _I'm not going to run away from this problem!_ Sanada dashes towards her brother with a raised fist. She shouts a _kiai_ , but the man remains unfazed. He blocks her fist with a finger and she staggers back to deliver a kick. He steps away to dodge. He steps away from all her kicks. Still being an Academy student, she has no access to real weapons yet besides a blunt kunai that takes more force to cut than normal kunai. Logic says she's double screwed. But screw logic. Who needs it?

Her fingers do graze the wire in her pocket. Uchiha wire, made for their Fire Release techniques. The wire can wrap around anything with its durability. It's so thin, it can be difficult to see. It's main use is to aid Uchiha fires. That wire can make up for her lack of ... everything.

To get a moment to think of a strategy, Sanada grabs the kunai and launches it, close range. It hits - no, it's a log. ( _Why is it always a log_?) And where did - he's behind her.

And he kicks her beyond the area he set on fire, and her back slams into a tree trunk. She groans, touching the now sore area and wanting for her organs to get over the shock. All while her brother walks closer.

"So weak, little sister."

She growls. "Quit saying that, you monster!"

"You expect me to be afraid of you? That you'll kill me and redeem the Uchiha name? The people who called you a prodigy lied. If you were, you would've been just like me." His calm voice is ticking her off. "Graduated at a young age. Became ANBU Captain at a young age. Had father's attention at a young age."

She growls again because that's all she can really do.

"You need those eyes to stand a chance, Sanada-chan."

"Shut up, shut up, _shuddup_!"

Her fists start to tremble. She's not that amazing. She still only graduated in three years. She practiced every day, and she still sees no progress. How many hours does she have to devote to better herself alone?

Her eyes turn red again, two tomoe spinning, one tomoe spinning. Even _that_ isn't as good as she wanted it to be. It's useless if it's not matured. It's not even the eyes Itachi wants. Not the eyes he used on his genocidal rampage.

Itachi shakes his head, chuckling. "You're so foolish. I feel ashamed of you."

(And this is coming from a murderer.)

She wants to kill him but she can't. Three years worth of training is useless, and -

Sanada looks just behind Itachi. Narrowing her eyes until she sees it.

 _I'm not givin' up_! she said, punching the air with her bandaged, broken arm. _Let's do this!_

 _You always lose, you know_ , the Uchiha said. _I don't have time for games. I need to get stronger._

 _Oi! I'm NOT jokin' around!_

 _Yes, you are! You stole my panties the other day and made a flag!_

The shorter girl stuck her tongue out. _That was THAT day, today is THIS day._

 _Dummy. I need to train with someone who can actually challenge me._

She turned red. _Oh, so, I'm NOT a challenge?! Is that it, chunno?! You want a girl who can reeaallly challenge ya, eh?_

 _Don't say it like that, you little idiot!_

 _But it's true!_

 _It sounds weird!_

 _Ugh. Then ... you want a girl you have to work for, right?!_

 _Again, you're phrasing that all wrong!_

 _Stop being so sensitive! This is why you can't find a girl!_

 _That fight last night ... she actually hit me. The dead last actually hit me. She's making more progress in three days than I in three years - she HAS to know how to do it!_

Itachi follows her gaze and sees nothing.

" _Saa-chan_?"

 _Sanada almost had a heart attack seeing her masked brother appear from nowhere. "Saa-chan? What's wrong with your cheek?"_

 _"Taijutsu spar, uh ... I kinda hurt it to ... a loser, and I'm scared to go home."_

 _Itachi remained silent for a beat. "Let's hide it."_

 _Sanada blinked. "H-Huh?"_

 _A few moments later, Itachi held a napkin covering an ice cream cone on her cheek while she ate the other in hand. "The swelling should go down. Afterwards ... I figure Izumi would help us patch it up. Or maybe Shisui."_

 _Sanada giggled with all the attention Itachi gave her ... for once. "Shisu-chan is the best at hittin' himself! No doubt!"_

 _Itachi closed his eyes and chuckled. "You would expect someone as fast as him would have the foresight to be cautious ... "_

 _It reminded him of the Yellow Flash. The man ... he was nice and somewhat awkward at times, and yet even though he was the fastest man alive, he_ still _was late to places._

 _Sanada didn't hear the last part as she ate ice cream. "Hey, Itachi-nii, can I eat the other ice cream on my cheek later?"_

 _" ... Mother does not like for you to eat so much junk food."_

 _It wasn't a no. (Or yes. Or an answer for that matter.) "I promise I won't get tooo hyper!"_

 _Behind his mask, he smiled again. "Okay, Saa-chan."_

Help.

That's it.

That's the secret!

Uchiha Sanada wakes up.

* * *

Some tests were made with extra limitations. The users of doujutsu, the Sharingan and Byakugan, needed a temporary seal. There has been no permanent seal made due to mostly enigmatic nature of doujutsu, but the highest level of sealing lasts only two weeks; it was usually used for healing purposes.

As for the Byakugan wielder Hyuuga Hotaru, a more sophisticated seal was added to his genjutsu to prevent his Byakugan from seeing through, and potentially his exceptional chakra control from sensing and breaking the genjutsu. On that note, the tests are a very complicated process. Each genjutsu is made completely unique. It's been that way for forty-five years.

"Has the Hyuuga escaped yet?"

"No, thankfully he's not like Neji-kun from last year. He was way too close to escaping."

"Man, sometimes I really do hate prodigies - more precautions and more work."

"What's his weaknesses?"

"Low self esteem and confidence, shyness, lack of leadership ... "

"Uhh, I mean, combat wise?"

"Oh. Uh, he's a really great fighter, actually! Just ... he hesitates so much, it completely negates his advantage. He only loses because of that hesitation."

"Whaddya put on his genjutsu?"

"Something that ... should help."

* * *

Year 38. Hyuuga Hotaru's third birthday. The day of the Konoha-Kumo peace treaty.

The party is an all day affair; with Hotaru's birthday being in December, the party takes place during cold months of winter, leading to most of the extravagant delights to be indoors. Konoha is normally too hot to snow. Sometimes it snows in January or even February for a day or two, but December remains without snow and includes a chilling breeze. For Konoha's biggest clan, the party is also a little disorderly.

The treaty is being signed at eight with another hour giving the chance for all Kumo prisoners of war to leave with their free kin. Hyuuga Hiashi could've probably sent a clone for the peace treaty, but he doesn't feel comfortable roaming Konoha with only half his chakra and a clone that can pop in one hit. Shadow Clones were not reliable to him for he had to keep his son and his one-year-old daughter safe. However ... he keeps his attention a little too much on his clan as a whole rather than Hotaru.

Hotaru was named with a fire kanji, rather the usual day kanji. Hiashi wanted to prove that he would be revolutionary. So far, his son is very kind-hearted and adored by all. He and his twin brother Hizashi had no trouble raising the child. Hotaru's sister, though - _different_ story.

Hizashi, as a branch family member, has to protect his brother no matter what. And soon his child, Neji, will have to guard his cousin Hotaru. But Neji is only four and Hizashi lets him enjoy himself.

Around nine or ten, Hotaru watches the party continue on from inside his home through the opened door. It's cold; he uses his thick and elaborately designed kimono to heat up his red cheeks. Both his father and uncle remain in the party, unaware their son left.

He smiles at all the fun he sees his clan members having. Then freezes when he hears Hanabi's whinning.

He leaps to his feet shuffles to his sister's room. Hanabi is supposed to be sleeping; maybe maybe she had a bad dream?

"Hanabi-chan, you okay?" He slides open the door -

 _Ngh_! There is somebody in the room. The blue moonlight reflects off the man's hitai-ate - _a Kumo-nin_ \- and that scares Hotaru because how close the man was to kidnapping his little sister. The man wears the usual Kumo outfit except with a silver hitai-ate band than the white, with seven swords in seven directions within seven scabbards. One of his eyes is permanently shut via a recent slash that looks too much like a cobra fang.

Training takes over. He activates his Byakugan with eight, fast seals. "Um, how did you get in _here_ , sir?" The Gentle Fist radiates chakra from his fingers.

 _The Gentle Fist_. He hisses and steps away. "I'm the Head Ninja of Kumo for a reason, kid. S'called Body Flash no Jutsu."

Body Flash ... he remembers being tested over Kumo's history. The Body Flash is a derivative of the Body Flicker. The latter uses moving at light speed to a location that looks like teleporting, but the person remains on the ground. The Body Flash uses the aggravated energy of lightning for power.

"May I ask that you leave now?" It doesn't sound like a question.

"I'm not leaving till I get a Byakugan."

"I will not allow that to happen."

Kid or not, nobody likes the Gentle Fist's ability to shatter internal organs. Hanabi continues to cry and someone just might hear, so the man feels a little desperate. No _way_ is he going to fail this. Death is better than failure.

But lightning is such a loud and bright release. Taijutsu should work, but close quarters are not the best place to be. Then - aha! - bombs would work. Especially bombs made to blind people by light. The Head Kumo Ninja grabs the small bombs in his pocket with the other hand throwing the sheet over Hanabi's head, and throws them on the ground.

Hotaru sees the light before him and shut his eyes, but they burn and itch. Thr Byakugan doesn't turn off once the eyes close, though, so almost 180 degrees of his full range is blinded. He starts to fight while blind, but feels a short prick and a moment later, total inability to use his muscles.

He thuds to the ground. He can hear his sister whining clearly, so she must be uncovered now. Bits and pieces come back into sight for Hotaru's normal eyes; the Byakugan won't activate.

He watches as the ninja writes on a small notebook. "Byakugan extremely sensitive to light. Byakugan unusable once given the D3 syringe." He puts it away. "Alright. Let's go on and go."

 _Go_?! No! He has to protect Hanabi! But he can't move! The ninja grabs him around the waist and with a Body Flash no Jutsu, the two are gone.

Hanabi still continues to whine.

* * *

Hotaru is not so pampered that sleeping in cage where the least amount of light hits it is the absolute bane of his existence. It's not dirty, it's new. The whole place feels new. The cage he's in is very disagreeable, but he won't shout that to all who's there. He bites his lips and tries to use his Byakugan to see.

In this room with cold walls and floors, there's not too much space; there's a pillow for a bed, a squat toilet, and chilly tiles between them. No windows except for the door, but he's so small he doesn't have hope he can see up it.

The Byakugan beyond his room strains his eyes and gives him nothing but blurs or dark spots.

This is a very bad situation.

" ... yes, well, the Byakugan does have its perks beyond the Sharingan's ability to copy techniques and genjutsu capabilities."

Huh?! Hotaru tries to see _something_ beyond the cage.

"Near 360 vision, ability to see chakra points, ability to lengthen range and see through objects. Not to mention their _bodies_."

Hotaru puts a hand on his open mouth. _This person ... may do very not nice things to me ... !_

"Their bodies are super unique. They have the ability to expel chakra from every tenketsu from their bodies. They can use a technique called the Gentle Fist and either destroy, overload tenketsu, or rupture internal organs. Obviously, an Uchiha's Sharingan mixed with the Byakugan in a Hyuuga body leads to all sort of potential for _power_!"

 _This is very not nice!_

"How are you so confident that this'll work?"

"My Kumo shinobi, you _do_ want power don't you? What better to mark your strength than to use the descendants of the _Distinguished Trio_?"

 _Wait a second_! Hotaru reflects back to his Konoha political studies. _His motivation sounds very familiar ... could this be that man?_

"There aren't a infinite number of Byakugan we can get! I barely got that one as it is, and the Hyuuga are pissed about it."

"That is right. The Caged Bird Seal marks all branch family members from their Byakugan upon death or by will of the main family, removing 80 percent of Hyuuga. Only the main family can be fully experimented on. Let's make the best use of our subject while we can." The man chuckles.

Hotaru gets to his feet, Gentle Fist ready, as the door silently opens.

 _Ah! It is that man!_

"Oh look," the Sannin sneers. "It seems the Hyuuga was prepared for us. How fitting."

To his side is the Head Ninja, eye unable to settle down. "I can knock him out, if you want."

"No, no, these experiments must be done while the subject is completely lucid. A battle will be a perfect wake up tool."

 _This man is very not ... he is very not agreeable_! He uses his speed to dash to the Sannin, attempting to rupture some organs so that no medic-nin can fix them, but a snake whips out of the darkness and clamps down on Hotaru's neck. He gives a cry and goes limp.

"W-What did you do?!"

"He's still awake. The pain is simply too intense for him to thrash around," he says with a wave of his hand.

"Oh yeah?! Last time you did this, my buddy was hollering in pain!"

"Well, he isn't now," the man counters lightly, walking away with the snake following, holding the boy in the air. "Because he's dead."

The Head Ninja shivers before following. _This guy's a disgusting jerk_.

In actuality, the only thing he feels is some pressure; the snake's fangs cannot puncture his thick kimono. He stares at the floor wondering what to do. The man is a Sannin - a kage level shinobi. He still hasn't even gone to Academy yet.

 _If only I could Kaiten ..._ Kaiten solves every single problem he has right now.

 _I can do Thirty-two Palms, though. And this man is in close proximity. Alright!_

Remaining still, he prepares the technique, quietly flaring the Byakugan (what a smug look on the man's face) and ready to add more chakra than necessary to his hands. Now chakra covers his entire hands rather than the fingertips. His father says it's a big waste, but Hotaru _knows_ he can make something out of this technique besides raw power.

 _Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!_

The snake man stops and barely sees two palm strikes, four strikes - his insides are becoming outsides - sixteen strikes - there are holes drilled into his skin - _thirty-two_ \- and the man's body crumbles into goo.

Hotaru hits the snake's head and explodes that, now free. The only person left is the terrified Head Ninja.

"Where am I?" Hotaru says, breathless.

"Lightning-Fire border," he replies vaguely, static electricity growing in the air. "Look, I ain't going to fail this mission! As my pride as a shinobi, I refuse!"

"I understand, but you still removed me from my home, so I must fight back." Hotaru prepares for basic Hyuuga taijutsu.

"For the sake of me still having a village to go back to, I'm gon' fight back!" The man looks ready for a nasty Lightning Release.

One step forward and something slimy wraps around his body and squeezes. The Head Ninja eeks in disgust at something behind Hotaru. He manages to crane his head ...

The Sannin ... isn't dead. Now he has _two_ heads, the malformed head holding the Hyuuga with its inhumanly long tongue, and the other head smirking.

"A battle will be a perfect wake up tool," the Sannin repeats.

Hotaru blanches.

"Now then, let us begin the experiments, shall we? We haven't got all day with those Hyuuga on our trail. You left chakra residue and they are making the most of _your_ incompetence."

The Head Ninja curses. _I hate when this douche is upset._

 _This is not very nice this is not very nice this is not very nice!_ He can't move as the three get closer to the experimentation room. _Pl-Please help! Dad! Neji-nii-san! Anybody!_

* * *

 _Ah!_

Hotaru jumps in his seat, looking around with red cheeks. "I n-n-never sleep in cl-class! Wait ... wh-where is everyone?"

His class is empty and dead quiet. He sits in his usual way in the back middle row overlooking the classroom. He puts a hand in his beige hoodie with the too long sleeves that sometimes falls over his fingers, and on the area where his heart is, below the mesh undershirt. It's beating way too fast.

He starts breathing deeply. "I-I-I hate that n-nightmare ... "

 _But where did everyone go_? Hotaru starts to pull on his long, bluish-black hair and makes a half seal. _Byakugan_.

Nothing. He can't see anything. It's all a dark gray. How can that be _possible_?

Then the door slams open, startling him out his doujutsu.

"Hey, it's princess!"

"There's our little princess reject!"

"You think we're done with you?"

Hotaru immediately starts tearing up. _Oh no_.

His bullies from when he first joined the Academy, now bigger and tougher, surround him. Tarou has the messy brown hair and freckles on his cheeks, Moda has no hair but wears hats, and Jin wears glasses. Those three have amazing teamwork abilities to make up for their average results (yet still did not receive the genjutsu test).

Those three are passionate about being a man. They cannot stand to see a boy so ... feminine and _weak_ like Hotaru. Sometimes they simply taunt and tease him until he cries (didn't take too much effort, though), but mostly they hit him and bruised him, and the Hyuuga always lied about those marks being training wounds.

"I think princess needs another lesson to mark our three year anniversary," Tarou smirks.

"This time'll be the worst one ever!" adds Moda.

"If _she_ were a man, he could take it no probs," states Jin.

Hotaru whimpers and covers his head. He'd _never_ say this out loud, but, he's tired from his nightmare. He's tried so many times to repress that awful memory, but to no avail. Actually, Hotaru feels overwhelmed. From his nightmare to these guys without a break in between ... Hotaru feels exhausted.

"She's hiding like a chicken again!"

"She never learns, does she? Well, I'll teach it to princess!"

"It prolly wouldn't work anyways ... "

The first hit is a hard shove that sends Hotaru flying out his seat to the floor. Then the next hits are the kicks and stomps from the boys with much more power from their new muscles and chakra assistance. He curls into a fetal position to protect anything important, but once again is he being beat up without defending himself.

 _Just like everytime. I always let them do this, but I don't have the strength to stop them_ ... the only person who has the strength is that red-haired girl with the formerly scary chakra. He still remembers her (adorable) happy grin and general happiness. He's watched her a few times during and outside the Academy as she became stronger. He was disappointed when she changed, but after seeing her fight Sanada, he has even _more_ hope for her.

 _Monaka-chan could do this. She could stand up to them! If she could actually hit Sanada-chan despite being a dead last, then I can defend myself, too!_

Hotaru wobbles to hands and knees, and the kicks stop as he does.

"Hey, what's princess doing?"

"I dunno. Has she lost it?"

He stumbles to his unsteady feet and makes the ready stance for Hyuuga taijutsu, back facing the wall.

The three boy share a confused look.

"I ... am n-not in the mood f-for your games," he says, voice trembling. "Pl-Please leave me alone, o-or face my wr-wraith."

" ... he's bluffin'," Moda declares.

"No way I believe princess! You expect me to be convinced some dumb _wannabe girl_ as you is gonna fight back after three years years?! Ha!" Tarou smirks to his friends.

"Th-Then you should, b-because my patience is very th-thin, so ... " He trails off, unsure if he wants to threaten them. That awkward drop lowers what little intimidation he created.

"Moda. Jin. Seems like princess needs another lesson. Let's go, boys! Ain't no one v one, we all or nothing!"

"Right!" "Gotcha!"

All three charges him. Hotaru redirects Moda fist to Jin's jab, grabs the stumbling boy and pushes him into the glasses boy. He ducks Tarou's punches and blocks the kick with a side block, only to grab his leg and throw him onto the ground with his friends.

Jin complains about this new weight as he's stuck on the bottom.

"Please ... " Hotaru says. "I-I'm not in the m-mood to deal with you th-three. I'm sorry." He bows, much to the three's annoyance.

 _I did it, though! I stood up for myself! Me!_

With that, Hyuuga Hotaru wakes up.

* * *

"Haruno Sakura. Go."

"Very intelligent girl, abnormally high chakra control, and is a bit of a perfectionist. Weaknesses include her constant dilemma of her gigantic forehead - glad the elephant in the room is addressed - her normal, civilian upbringing, popularity and acceptance, and winning Uchiha Sanada's 'coolness.'"

"I can already guess her genjutsu."

"I'm confident she'll make it through, but how?"

* * *

Making all A pluses, founder and leader of three clubs (horticulture, chakra theory, and kunoichi), and still some of her sensei doubt her. Some of her sensei, while they treat her nice, still completely doubt her ability to become an actual shinobi.

"I'm the top kunoichi!" Sakura rants to Shikamaru during a shougi game. "I can do practically anything because I'm the strongest!"

"Guess so," drawls Shikamaru, who takes the game seriously and is starting to win. "But you know Sanada's the top ninja overall."

"Oh, Sanada-chan! Man, isn't she amazing, Shika?! She's so - "

" _Whatever_. Point is, my dad's a legit shinobi, and he can tell you first hand it's not fun being a shinobi."

Sakura clicks her shougi piece in position and Shikamaru almost smirks at her predictable play. "Ino says it's because you dislike working."

" ... that, too, is a factor, but the primary reason why I'm in this shinobi business is because I gotta make the next Ino-Shika-Chou trio _and_ become leader." He clicks his shougi piece while sighing. "How troublesome."

" ... that's a lot of expectations. I don't have to worry about anything besides my chores and getting home on time. My parents would prefer I not become a shinobi, but they still don't get why I need to."

"Why do you need to?"

"Two reasons. Firstly, civilians don't really get access to politics. It makes sense because we can't really do anything about it, I mean ... there's many shinobi that are one man armies. And being a shinobi is the only way I can make a mark on Konoha.

"Secondly," - she smirks - "I've got to beat you in our bet!"

Shikamaru groans internally. The first game he ever played with Sakura was when they were seven, and he didn't take her intelligence seriously; she won. Sakura decided if she beat Shikamaru to a government job, she'll tell Shikamaru's genius of father his son lost to a plain civilian.

(She hasn't won a game since.)

Haruno Sakura, bentou in hand, walks the usual route to the Academy, the path under the cherry blossoms for which she was named. It makes her day happier see the pink petals ripple in the wind. It also reminds her of her pink hair some people think is odd. It's not _blood red hair_ odd, like Monaka's (most doubt that's her real hair color), but it's just as odd as having purple, green, and dark gray hair. Those colors are somewhat common.

Her thoughts focus around her academic goals for the day and things to talk about with Ino. She doesn't notice the figure a meter away until she gets closer.

 _Hm_? She stops, squints, smiles. "Hey, Sanada-chan! I didn't know you walked down here!"

Uchiha Sanada continues to walk forward as Sakura jogs up to walk alongside. "Ino can make really awesome cherry blossom bracelets. Maybe you want one?"

Sanada doesn't respond, eyes hidden by her bangs.

" ... I see your bentou," she says instead. "What's in that? My mom made _unadon_ with eggs. It's probably not the most healthy thing ever, but I'll work off the extra weight, haha!"

Still no response.

Sakura's smile falls. "Um, Sanada-chan, is something wrong? Did I say something ... ? Are you okay?"

The Uchiha stops abruptly. Sakura stops, too, after startled cry.

"Sanada-chan, what's wrong?! Did that pesky Monaka hurt you? Annoy you? Only she would be so uncool like that! I'll get Ino to get her, and - "

"Sakura."

She looks up but doesn't feel relieved Sanada speaks.

"Sakura," the Uchiha repeats in a monotone. " _You're annoying_."

As she says that, she looks at the Haruno, both eyes red - almost glowing - with three slowly rotating tomoe.

Sakura reels back. _Sharingan? But why? Why now? And why did she call me annoying?_

The Uchiha stalks towards the startled girl. "You're all brains and no brawn. You don't know a single technique outside the Academy jutsu. _You're_ the annoying one."

"S-Sanada-chan - !"

"And I don't have the time to deal with you, pinkie."

The Uchiha drops her bentou and charges Sakura, who leaps out the way of a jab. What it does hit - a cherry blossom tree trunk - cracks and dents horribly. There the sharp CLANG of the bentou hitting the ground.

"S-Sanada-chan! It's like you're trying to kill me ... !"

"It's _like_? I thought that couldn't be more obvious, _genius_." Sanada flips through her hands seals and blows out multiple, small fireballs that spread frantically.

Sakura winces at their heat and brightness. _Why is this happening? Did I upset her? Why is she acting like this?!_

"C'mon, _pinkie_. With my Sharingan, I can predict your moves even before you do. You _know_ that already."

Sakura gasps - the voice is behind her - and cries out at the jab to her side, then the palm strike to her back, and it _hurts_. Super cool Uchiha Sanada is serious about hurting her.

Besides the basic jutsu, Sakura realizes she doesn't have a clue on how to defeat her. She never took taijutsu lessons seriously, she only was concerned about good grades and _not_ about fighting. In hindsight, that was a serious overlook.

Sakura falls harshly to the ground, no doubt scraping herself. "Sanada-chan, please don't hurt me ... I can't defend myself ... " she mumbles, tears being to form.

"How is that my problem?"

"It's not _right_. You shouldn't hit someone so defenseless ... "

"You're a shinobi, right? Then you shouldn't be defenseless. Even your Yamanaka friend can defend herself. Being an average civilian is no excuse. You were given every opportunity to learn, and you didn't take them."

Now hot tears stream. "I-I'm sorry ... "

"Sorry to who? Me? You?"

 _Me, I guess_ ... _I guess intelligence is a great thing, but I was so caught up in being the smart girl, I forgot to learn how to defend myself as a shinobi. I forgot to learn._

Instead of receiving Sanada's next attack, Sakura wakes up.

* * *

"Next candidate?"

"Inuzuka Kiba."

"So that explains the dog you're petting. What's his weakness?"

"He grew up under Inuzuka influence, AKA he's all for listening to his impulses and being wild. That's completely terrible because he's not obedient and he's very coarse."

"Combat wise?"

"He's very direct and fierce. By fierce, I mean instead of traditional, human stances, he takes on the appearance of a dog or wolf. Not to mention he smells like one, too! Hahaha - AGH! The dog BIT me!"

"He can become aggressive when provoked like a dog, right? And his file says anyone who's intimidating enough can easily walk over him because his mother's personality."

"Are you IGNORING me?!"

"Teamwork is absolutely phenomenal and so is his loyalty. Yes, this genjutsu makes sense."

"Get AWAY, Akamaru! I'm SORRY! Kiba is AMAZING!"

"Let's see if Kiba will make it or break it."

* * *

"Hana, what're you up to?"

"Relax, this won't take long, little bro."

Inuzuka Hana flashes her brother a grin that shows her sharp canine teeth. She brushes a lock of hair behind her ear as she grabs berries. Kiba huffs and holds the pouch open so the mulberries fall in.

"We're a clan of _dogs_ , not bunnies," he grumbles. "Why do I gotta join you on _your_ missions, huh?"

"You're in Academy, aren't you? This is perfect experience. Yanno, just 'cause you get a hitai-ate doesn't mean you'll go on epic missions right away." Hana's tone is very light, almost teasing; it makes Kiba feel like she's not taking him seriously or she's just this happy that his attitude doesn't affect her.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't see how finding a dumb rabbit has to do with a girl whose good with dogs."

"I happen to _like_ all animals, not just my dogs."

"Just wait until Haimaru hears about that ... "

Hana fake pouts. "Kiba, you wouldn't."

"Would to," he mocks.

His sister giggles. "That face! It reminds me of Itachi-kun's face when Baimaru licks him!"

Haimaru, Baimaru, and Paimaru (though called "Haimaru triplet" for short) are Hana's ninken while her eight-year-old brother has his puppy named Akamaru.

"Who's Itachi?" Kiba grumbles.

"Just - just a classmate, until, um ... " Hana wipes her hands and stands up. "Alrighty! I'm gonna give you an order, and you _have_ to follow it."

"And if don't?" challenges her brother.

"Kiba, you won't because it's simple. All I need you to do is find the bunny's scent and place down the berries." She winks. "My vet knowledge says that - "

"Don't give a crap about that!" Kiba stuffs part of the pouch in his mouth and walks on his hands and legs just like he's seen the Haimaru triplet do. He sniffs as he walks.

"Okay, Kiba!" she shouts. "I'm gonna do the same thing over here! Catch him if you see him!"

 _Geez, can't believe Hana can't even do this_ , he thinks. _Some Genin she is_.

 _Why am I even listenin' to her?! I can do this MY way!_

He spits out the pouch and puts in his back pocket; he runs through the forest. _Screw berries! Dogs're nature's scavengers! We don't WAIT - we chase!_

He runs and runs and sniffs. The smell of dirt is everywhere and it's amazing to Kiba; so many shades of green and so many plant sizes and animals. He doesn't eat the plants, though. He used to do that, but ...

He's having a great time, but - wasn't he doing something?

"Hana's bunny!" Kiba looks around, but all he sees is green leaves and brown bark and dirt. Where is he? "What the ... ? Where am I?" He sits down, still panting from his running. "Hana! _Hanaaa_! Where are you?!"

Silence. His gut does a flip.

Suddenly the amazingly tall trees are surrounding him, 100 times as big as him. All he hears are the crows' harsh sounds and his breath picks up.

 _Where's MY scent? What the heck?!_

"Hana! HANA!"

His voices echoes slightly.

"I'm - I'm sorry for whatever I did! I won't tell Haimaru! Hana, PLEASE!"

Kiba pulls out the pouch and sniffs it. His scent _isn't_ on it - that's impossible! Maybe Hana tricked him? There is no bunny, only a cruel lesson. No ... she's not that mean! If she were ever mad, she only looks disappointed. She'd never get revenge.

Kiba does a whole bunch of stuff to make her upset like the pranks at Academy or do the opposite of what she says just cuz he can. Despite that, he really does love her. He loves her enough to become strong and find their missing dad.

But ... he's less than a decade old, and he's all alone.

Kiba wraps his arms around his knees. "This is all my fault. I'm lost and Hana-chan doesn't know where I am. Darn it!" He stares at the pouch in his fist. "I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna do what she said and find that bunny!"

With that, Kiba wakes up.

"Aburame Shino. I had no idea he was even here!"

"He's quite forgettable ... "

"Seems like Iruka's class ranking is the Uchiha, Yamanaka, and this guy. Only has one friend - yeah, bugs're creepy."

"Weaknesses?"

" ... huh."

"What?"

"He doesn't have a lot of weaknesses ... besides his loathe of being underestimated, if it counts. Very intelligent, patient, hyper aware ... "

"Everyone has a weakness."

"I know, I know. Uhhh ... oh, here it is! It's seems to be ... besides his socially awkward self, he's got trust issues."

"Tr-Trust issues?! How so?"

"He had a bad experience with greedy jerks when he was young. It tore him away from his brother, and also wasn't good for his head when he came back to kill him ... for initiation purposes."

" ... geez."

"Yeah. Also, can thinking too much be a flaw?"

* * *

If there's one Shino could have, it's to be remembered.

Shino can't recall his mother's appearance, just dull memories of her scent. She died young and during childbirth, not because she was _necessarily_ unhealthy. Females had a low life expectancy and pregnancy made it worse. In a simplified version, kikaichuu inhabit every tissue and organ while eating from the chakra veins. Every month, women have to lose a certain amount of their body tissue which is very disagreeable to the kikaichuu habitat; they would resist this shedding resulting in highly incurable endometriosis. (This is why females are married in ... if the Aburame can find a female who can tolerate bugs.) Most females never make it past twenty-five, thus the Aburame Clan is the lowest populated clan with only 60 members (the Hyuuga has about 150, the Uchiha had almost 110, and the Akimichi has about 90).

But besides the facts he needs to learn in order to lead his clan one day, he's a brother.

During one sunset, Shino catches moths with a net in his pursuit to know every bug in Konoha. Up high in the trees is his brother Torune. They're not blood brothers, but adoptive. Still, that difference means nothing to Shino.

"Torune," Shino says suddenly. "I do not get it. What is friendship?"

Such questions like those are common with Shino, but Torune is a good listener. "Why so all of a sudden?"

" ... today in class, I met this weird classmate."

 _The kikaichuu within Shino squirm as a terribly frightening chakra comes closer and closer until he's face to face with a bright-eyed girl. "Wha'cha doin' here all alone, 'n' stuff?"_

 _Shino gulps to control his fear. The girl is harmless. "I am collecting the carcasses of the cicada for evaluation. Summer is their peak mating season and I do not want to miss it this year."_

 _98 percent of his words whiz over her head. "Um ... Konoha's always summer! But you know what? I like fall the best cuz there's sooo many leaves! I love orange leaves!"_

 _Shino notes her orange goggles. "I see."_

 _"So, um, I don't really get how this works ... " She trails off in thought._

 _Understand what?_

 _" ... but, um, I guess we can be friends?"_

 _Shino pauses for a second to process that. "Friends ... ? I do not know if this is acceptable enough to become friends ... "_

 _"Yeah, me neither!" she beams. "Don't really have a lot, hehheh ... but I've never seen ya around, so let's be friends!"_

 _Instead of a happy (tearful) shout of acceptance, the redhead sweatdrops as the strange boy starts sulking. Why? Because they've been classmates for almost four months now._

Torune swings his feet. " ... interesting. Well, isn't friendship just when you spend some time with someone?"

"That would mean my classmates are my friends and I do not feel like they are friends."

" ... " Torune watches the darkening sky. "You think too much, Shino."

Shino slumps. "How can I process such a strange world if I do not think?"

"Well, I don't really have much experience there, either. My nano bugs prevent me from establishing meaningful contact." He flexes his gloved fingers. "Shino, I'm sure I consider you a friend. I think if ... someone trusts you ... they're your friend."

Shino absorbs his information. "I see."

"Shino, who's that man with your father?"

Shino resumes his moth collecting. "That's not possible - Father is at the meeting with Konoha's Four Noble Clans. They are deciding what to do with the last Uchiha. He cannot be here. Why? Because - "

Torune jumps down and lands beside his brother. "Sorry, Shino, but I guess the meeting is done with early."

"Shino, Torune."

Shino turns to where his father - Aburame Shibi - walks alongside with a bandaged, old man.

"Father?" Shino mumbles. "You shouldn't be home this early - "

"Shino," Shibi says, his voice eerily formal. "Danzou-dono has requested that there be a Aburame in Root. Unfortunately Root is experiencing a shortage due to the 'incident.'"

Shino tightens his jaw and sees the aloof look of the war hawk. "If you want me to be the candidate, I will do my - "

"No, no," his father interrupts again - more times as of now than his entire life. "I've volunteered Torune here. I assume it's better for Torune to do something rather than hide from everyone."

Shino's mouth opens slightly; Torune takes a step forward. "R-Really?"

The old man smiles with closed eyes. "Root is a highly elite and specialized subunit of ANBU made to protect the Hokage. Unlike ANBU, Root is open to all ages and allows unique training for every potential shinobi.

"You are a special child capable of great things. It would be an honor if you would join."

Shino and Torune trade a look. The former nods, and Torune says, "I'll gladly join. Thank you!" He smiles at his brother. "Guess I found something I'm good at!"

Shino smiles back.

"I must make reservations for you, Torune-kun," Danzou says lightly. "I will be by no later than tomorrow for the final arrangements. Thank you."

...

Shibi looks back to the far away man limping with his cane and to his sons. "Torune, I'm sorry."

Torune sobers up. "Sorry? For what? I thank you for everything you've done."

"Sorry that your father Shikuro died. Sorry Danzou forced me to apply one of you to Root."

"Father, what's wrong?"

"To become a Root agent, one must give up their past and their future. It has been disbanded for years now, but we still give Danzou our members only to keep the ones we have trapped safe." Shibi, normally as immovable as mountains, now looks ready to crack. "Torune ... you will no longer see Shino again."

* * *

Shino quietly observes the rinkaichuu crawling the glass of its habitat - only as big as most shoe boxes - under the crescent moon. He can hear the crickets outside his window, almost as loud as the cicadas.

Shino no longer wears his hood. It's to honor Torune's sacrifice two years ago. Two lonely years with him stuck with his thoughts, but that's a burden he can easily get rinkaichuu crawls near a spot on the glass wall that reflects the moon and a pair of eyes within the darkness.

Wait, _what_?

Shino turns back just as the intruder yanks him out the window and Body Flickers him away from his home, slamming him into a tree somewhere.

He grunts. Gets to his feet. The moonlight shines on his opponent's face.

" ... Torune?"

Torune looks grim. He's never seen such a lifeless face before.

"Shino, I am ordered to kill you for my next phase of training," he drones.

"Training ... ? You'd kill your brother for training?"

"Yes. Whatever relationship we once had, I have no recollection of it."

Torune moves faster than Shino can react; a jumping side kick slams into his jaw and throws him to the ground hard enough to break something. Before he can move, Torune's foot pushes him to his back and crushes his chest.

"Don't be alarmed that you lost, Shino," Torune(?) states. "You were given only the basics. I have already killed men with my rinkaichuu."

Shino pales (then coughs because he can't really breathe). "What - what has Root ... done with you?"

The pressure eases on his chest slightly. "Your words imply there was a past me."

"There _was_." Shino coughs. "You weren't like this. Remember? You said not only was I your brother, I was your friend."

"A ... _friend_?"

" _Your words_ were that a friend is someone who you can trust." The Aburame stares dead into Torune's hidden eyes. "At one point in time, you trusted me. Have you forgotten?"

"I ... " Torune removes his foot completely.

The other gets to knees, coughing. "Torune, as my friend ... I trust you."

And then he wakes up.

* * *

Sanada looks away, eating her lunch quietly. Her Itachi encounter has her grumpy. _More practice, more practice_ ...

Sakura sometimes looks over to her and back to her lunch. _Sanada-chan wouldn't kill me, right? Shannaro ... I really do need to get stronger._

Hotaru plays with Shino's bugs as means to forget about his nightmare and be grateful some version of him actually fought back.

Shino watches him as he eats, deciding to trust in others a little more.

And Kiba happily chows down on his food.

Ino takes once glance around the table and says, "Where's Monaka? Has she still not finished?"

"I didn't see her walk in," Sakura says.

Kiba swallows. "No way little red gave up! That just ain't her!"

"Then how do you explain her absence, Kiba?" Shikamaru drawls. "I think she bailed."

Kiba jumps to his feet. "Hey, ain't you the smart guy?! Why you acting so stupid?!"

"I'm not acting stupid, I'm just connecting the facts," the Nara retorts. "She wasn't here this morning and she's not here now, despite all the others being done already." He scoffs, scowling at his food. "Guess she was a liar after all."

Hyuuga Hotaru shrinks at the words. Kiba growls and rips a bit off his bread.

Sakura puts a finger to her chin. "Maybe she ... didn't make it? The one-third."

Sanada stops eating.

"One-third?" Ino echoes. "What's that?"

"Basically, in order to keep Konoha stable and not completely corrupt, a shinobi population must be one-third of the total population. The Academy accepts all who want to learn, but obviously they truly test the ones who make the one-third." Sakura pouts, which makes her look more like a ten-year-old kunoichi than a dwarf scientist. " ... what if she didn't make it?"

The air is tense.

Hours of hard work and trust and it amounts to nothing, even despite Monaka being Iruka's favorite student. Maybe that's why she's gone - because she wasn't going to become a real shinobi -

"All testers please report back to the Academy for your results," shouts a bored-looking Chuunin.

The eleven slowly clean up and head back. Though a small part of them feel immense anxiety.

* * *

"I passed!"

The pink-haired girl unties her ribbon and throws it into the air (which, as the fabric is very light, hardly flies up) and giggles as her hair falls into her face. _Shannaro, Sanada-chan!_

"I passed, too!" Ino shows Sakura her acceptance scroll as well. The girls bounce around, squealing.

Kiba punches the air with Akamaru barking and tail flailing. "We did it, Akamaru! Ma and Hana-chan are gonna be so proud!"

Hotaru falls to his knees. _I ... passed? I actually did it_ ... ? Tears begin failing as he pats them with his sleeve. _I'm so proud of myself_ ... !

Shino nods at his acceptance scroll and makes no visible change in expression (but his insects squirm).

"Shika, we did it!" Chouji shakes his lazy friend by the shoulders. "Barbecue is on me! You gotta come to my home!"

"Alright, alright," he says though he struggles to hide his smile. "I have to ask Mom - you know how she gets ... "

Sanada rereads the words over and over again, almost obsessively.

 _Uchiha Sanada,_

 _is hereby promoted to Genin and a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village, Konohagakure._

 _May the Will of Fire carry you through your shinobi life._

 _I ... I did it._

She doesn't feel good about it. Itachi graduated at seven. She peers out the window. _I wonder if Monaka_ ... ?

A crow flaps through the sky, squawking. Sanada snaps her focus onto the bird with the red eyes that almost seem to be ... looking at her.

But it flaps away with the harsh sounds of feather meeting wind, soaring higher and farther ...

... until it lands on the outstretched palm of a man's hand, just miles outside of Konoha.

"With your eye, I can see," drones the man to the crow who sits obediently in his palm. "I can see she is growing up fine. We will be meeting soon."

The crow turns its head, a Sharingan spiraling slowly.

Ruining the almost calm scene of the man and his crow, a shadow of a large figure falls on the man. "You're a bird whisperer now? Impressive. You amaze me everyday, ya know."

The man drops his hand and the crow flaps away. "Let's leave."

"C'mon, why'd we come here so close to Konoha only to leave?"

"Today is special."

"The spring Chuunin Exams finals? I mean, if you like seeing kids trying to kill each other, yeah; but don't you know Kiri shinobi kill the most gruesomely ... ?"

" ... I have no interest in your intimidation tactics. Today is graduation from the Academy. That means that - "

" - you said that redhead was a jinchuuriki, right? So, they're just going to let her out of Konoha now cuz she's graduated?" The other chuckles.

" ... they're likely to pair her with someone strong; even so, I do not know if she has passed."

"Well, there's plan B - storm Konoha for the jinchuuriki rather than wait for her to come out."

"The Third Hokage, though old, was the God of Shinobi. It'll be suicide."

"Oh yeah? Remember how sharks eat their siblings before they're born? You think I'm scared of that?"

The man doesn't respond at first.

"We will _wait_ for her to leave Konoha. If you have any more objections, I will use my Tsukuyomi."

The man hesitates slightly. It's not the _worst_ thing in the world, but being tortured for 72 hours straight isn't a _nice_ thing.

"Heh. Alright, I'll follow your lead, then."

* * *

Post A/N: Sorry for such the delay - AP testing. I feel like cuz I didn't write anything for so long, my writing sucks. I apologize for that. By the way, the genjutsu takes real events to sort of "suck" the person in so that they don't realize anything is off until a certain point diverges from reality.

Post Post A/N: I ... still don't really get pacing, but I heard the Powerpuff Girls 2016 has fast pacing. I'll check it out and see what not to do. And ... um, thank you guys for reading my story; as always, I'm trying to become a better writer. Happy belated Mother's Day!

Post Post Post A/N: Did you guys see opening 19?! Amazing! Granted, I only know the _douka kimi yo/jinjin kokoro ga itamunara_ part (it's when Naruto opens his eyes; you'd see どうか君よ), but its MAH FAV BANDO. Shippudden opening ranking 2016: _Silhouette, Blood Circulator, Diver, Sign, Blue Bird, Hero's Comeback. (the new end is so nostalgic)_


	5. Episode 5, Genin Days Arc 2

"What?! You're giving me an hour to fix this, old man?!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen bows - a short bow - and Mitarashi Anko blanches in horror. _Never_ does someone with _higher_ authority bow to a lower! That's - that's -

"I'm sorry. This is much too ask from you. Especially this early."

Anko twitches, barely concealing her horror. "Uhh, n-no, it's all good, old man ... "

 _'Sides the fact he wants me to survey the village hate child cuz of her super duper secret "genjutsu," put it on her permanent record that she passed, and reassign the stupid teams again! For real?!_

"Thank you, Anko-chan." Anko growls at the use of her old nickname. "Please replace Haruno Sakura with Hotaru, and remove the Genma with Monaka."

"Yeah, yeah ... " she says weakly. "But why are you letting in Monaka? Nobody really likes her, you know ... "

"Monaka is a very strong girl. She reminds me about you."

Anko starts, then looks down at the ground. " ... she reminds you about me cuz I'm strong or cuz of my past?"

The Hokage's eyes soften. "Anko, that was not your fault."

"No duh!" Anko makes eye contact with all her vigor back. "'Course I know that, and I'm getting stronger so it won't happen again."

"I'm glad." He smiles.

"Now, uh, old man," she smiles a smile that's saccharine. "Do ya mind if I could stea - borrow some money from you for some dango? Consider it payment for my work."

"Anko, you have more than enough money from your missions as a special Jounin."

" - is what I'd _like_ to be true, but it's better to get me an accountant, or something." She waves her hand dismissively, one eye shut. "'Member my old teammate Mujin, as in the Hyuuga? He's amazing at money, I tell ya. Too bad he works in a armor store."

"Anko ... "

"Then what about my _other_ teammate, Shikoro? He's too busy being a Jounin and doing things like _border patrol_. Obviously I should've gotten that promotion, but no dice, eh, old man?"

"Anko, I will not buy you your own accountant."

"I'm just sayin'," she continues, acting obviously nonchalant, "it'll save so much time giving me an account. My lame teammates won't help me - can you believe that?"

He _can_. So many times he's had to see Anko's team at his desk.

 _"Hokage-sama," Shikoro whined. "Anko almost got herself killed, AGAIN!"_

 _"Ya big crybaby! I can fend for myself! I AM the strongest after all!"_

 _Mujin huffed. "I'm supposed to be the strongest, not some civilian ... "_

 _Anko put her fists on her (nonexistent) hips. "You two are the biggest crybabies EVER! That's why it's so fun mess with you, retards! Lighten up!"_

 _"STOP almost dying!"_

 _"Stop whining!"_

 _"Stop being a martyr!"_

 _"Stop being a - wha'?! The heck's a martin?!"_

Wisely, the Hokage gives her more money than she needs.

* * *

 **SHINOBI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

 **Genin Days Arc**

 **Episode 5**

 **Here We Go - Team Seven!**

 **Synopsis** _: Monaka, Sanada, and Hotaru meet their new sensei: Hatake Kakashi. But what they don't know is that Kakashi is a fail sensei, or a sensei that's supposed to fail all his teams! How will Team 7 convince him that they can be an actual team?! Part 1 of 2._

 _A/N: (Still getting used to pacing ... ) Alrighty, here's where canon goes down the pooper. By the way, I wanted to upload this earlier, but heavy rain knocked out the internet. (_ _；Ｔ-_ _Ｔ_ _)_

 **April, 45 years NE**

 **Monaka: 10 years, 6 months**

 **Rewrote/Posted: 29 May, 2016**

* * *

Monaka isn't very vain at all. In fact, this is the first time she's truly looked at herself in the mirror.

She undid the hitai-ate Iruka tied to her head and looks at her orange goggles she found in her short's pocket.

 _This is it._ She smiles to herself. _I'm no longer gonna let everyone I care about leave me! It's time I stopped actin' like a total failure and start winning!_

With a chuckle, Monaka puts her orange goggles over her eyes and her hitai-ate on her forehead, right where her goggles used to be.

* * *

On Saturday, Iruka's graduating class take their seats and their final look at the Academy. It's funny how most of them were so eager to leave and now feel a sort of sadness that their journey here is over, and that the walls that held certificates and their work are now empty and ready for the next class.

Kiba sniffles loudly, rubbing his eyes. Akamaru barks. "N-No, I ain't crying! It's just ... stupid allergies, yanno!"

Ino has a fist under her chin. "I know, like, a dozen of sad songs we could be playing right now."

Sakura barely registers her words as she reads a book. "Uh-huh ... "

"Well! I'm still super pumped that we all graduated!" She looks to a dozing Shikamaru and eating Chouji. "Imagine if you bozos failed the test. We would've been stuck here another year."

Chouji shuts his eyes tightly. "I'm not a bozo ... " he whines.

"Uh-huh," Sakura mumbles.

Ino grabs her bag from under the desk and grabs three flowers. "These are your graduation presents. This one is for you, Chouji." Ino hands him a yellow buttercup. "And this is for Shikamaru." Ino hands Chouji Shikamaru's marigold.

"Thanks," Chiuji says with a small bow. "What does it mean?"

"Buttercups stand for joy and celebration. Marigolds stand for the drive for success. And since Shika's so lazy, that's the pefect flower for him!" Ino hands Sakura the last flower. "Hey, Sakura, this is the bleeding heart flower. It stands for ... "

Sakura doesn't pay attention. The blonde has a tick mark on her forehead and snatches the book away. "Just WHAT are you reading?!"

Sakura cries out. " _The Gutsy Ninja_! Don't hurt my book!"

" _The Gutsy Ninja_?" Ino takes a glance at the words. "Sounds too complicated. Why are you reading this?"

Sakura snatches the book and says, "It's the first book written by the Toad Sage. It's really good, if somewhat cringy at times, and if there weren't so many self-inserts ... "

"Eh, well, I don't really like reading. I like things animated or drawn." Her eyes light up. "Like the puppet shows from Sand ninja! Spectacular!"

"Sand ninja? You went to Sunagakure?"

"No, sometimes Suna comes way over here into Konoha for their plays. They usually cost a whole bunch, but Daddy and I always see them during fall."

Sakura smiles. "That's ... really neat, Ino!"

 _Really neat my butt! Why didn't she invite me?!_ Inner Sakura eyes burn like fire. _I wanna see puppet shows, too!_

Ino smiles back before her eyes look at something behind Sakura. Before the civilian turns around, Ino says, "What in the world?"

Through the window comes a speeding ball of orange and red that flies past all the desks and hits the wall. Once most see who it is, they completely ignore that person.

Monaka falls down and lands on her butt hard. She rubs her forehead. _I really need to get that landing down ... ouch, ch'no ..._

"MONAKA?!"

Monaka sits up as multiple people yelp her name. "Oh, hey, guys!"

Many students stand in their seats and lean over their desks to see the wacky redhead. Sakura in particular shouts, "Wh-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING FLYING THROUGH WINDOWS?!"

The redhead flinches. "I-I-I was tryna beat Iruka-sensei to Academy!"

"But you're not even a - " Sakura narrows her eyes; there's a _hitai-ate_ there. It stuns her into silence.

"Sakura, look, she's got a hitai-ate!" Ino shouts (quite obviously). "MONAKA! How do you have a hitai-ate if you weren't even here yesterday?!"

Kiba punches the air. "I knew she could do it! What'd I say?"

The redhead jumps to her feet. "I wasn't here, but I still had my test! It's super confidential, though!"

 _Confidential_?

"Hey, Sakura-sensei!" Monaka grins. "Thank ya for all your help, ch'no!"

... to her surprise, Sakura blushes a little. _I really helped her? For real?_ "Uh ... thanks."

Sanada watches in silence, emotionless. _She made it after all_. For a moment until her hand covered it, she smiles. _Hmph_.

The Haruno hops down the stairs to meet the redhead; Ino gives a surprised cry at her fleeting friend, still trying to comprehend Monaka's achievement. She soon follows after.

"Um, Monaka." Sakura shows her the book she hid behind her book. "Here. It's your graduation present. I ... didn't really finish it - I'm only a quarter through, but I think you'll love this kind of thing. Action isn't my favorite genre ... "

Monaka takes the book, blinking. _The Gutsy Ninja by Jiraiya. Hey ... sounds like that ramen challenge! Sakura actually gave this to me_? "Uh, but I can't read good."

Inner Sakura growls. _Dumbo! Of course she couldn't! That book's filled with huge words! Great job!_

Sakura smiles with her eyes closed. "Then ... I'll teach you, so you won't forget about me just 'cause we're leaving the Academy."

Monaka tears up and leap-hugs her. "Thank you! R-Really! And I'm _not_ crying - it's just allergies, chunno!"

"Monaka, get off! Seriously!"

Ino watches the scene without any expression on her face. _So it seems that Monaka isn't so scary as I thought. She hit Sanada-chan and she got the real test and passed that as well. Maybe she has a shot at being a kunoichi?_

She grabs her flower she keeps in her ninja pouch and sighs. "Here's my present, too. It's a chrysanthemum, and it's my favorite flower, so you better treasure it, _got it_?"

Monaka salutes. "Yes, ma'am!" Then she chuckles.

Moaning, Shikamaru wakes up. "What's with all this racket ... ?"

Chouji laughs. "You sound like an old man."

" ... sometimes I feel like an old man in a kid's body."

"Seems like Monaka had a super special test yesterday, and she passed. Now everyone is giving her gifts!"

"Say _what_?" Shikamaru watches Ino, Sakura, and Kiba congratulate her. "Chouji, the world is ending."

"No it's _not_." Chouhi fishes in his pockets for something. "Here." He slides a bag of Gal-B barbeque chips in his direction. "Could you give that to her for me?"

Without thinking, he gets up with the chips. "Can't believe a half-pint such as her actually passed ... " He shuffles down the steps hearing the excited barking of Kiba's puppy and Sakura explaining the main characters from a book. He interrupts, anyways. "Monaka, these are for you, from Chouji."

"Shika, could you be more RUDE?" shouts Ino, and he winces.

"Such a loud mouth ... "

"Such a LAZY jerk!"

Monaka puts the flower in her hitai-ate and grabs the chips. "Thanks! I didn't know you believed in me!"

"I _did_ ," he drawls. "Just not while you acted like a total jerk over the year. Good to see our Monaka isn't completely gone." She laughs awkwardly. "Hey, word to the wise, you're loud, flippant, and way too reckless. My dad's been a shinobi for ages, and he says if you keep that up, you'll see the ones you love die."

The redhead frowns.

"But anyways, congrats, yadda yadda yadda ... " He turns around. "Goin' to sleep. Wake me when I'm 30."

Ino follows him back, nagging him just because he _hates_ it.

Kiba pouts. "What a mood killer. Ignore him, Monaka."

"No, it's kinda true," Sakura says. "Just don't get depressed over it, or anything, okay?"

Monaka nods. "I got it. I'm not weak, ch'no."

 _But I don't to be the reason my friends die. I wanna be a Hokage, for kami's sake!_

At that moment, the door slides open, and in comes a panting Umino Iruka holding files and papers, and chuckles. "Sorry I'm late. I had to grab some last minute papers, heheh ... " _And I didn't sleep a wink last night, either_ ...

"Hmph!" goes a student. "Irresponsible as ever!"

Iruka sweatdrops. Tough crowd.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei," pipes in the redhead. "I beat ya here! Shoulda made another bet - I could've gotten more ramen ... "

"Speaking of that ... but not really," says Sakura, "Monaka said she had a special test. Is that true?"

Iruka eyes Monaka suspiciously. "Did she say _anything_ besides that?"

"Not really, no."

He smiles. "Then, yes, it's true. She had a special test and I supervised. Now to your seats! We have a very busy day!"

Students mumble to themselves, but all take a seat.

* * *

Iruka makes the Will of Fire speech, first spoken at every beginning and end of a school year. Most ignore it.

 _The Will of Fire is that a true shinobi loves, believes, cherishes, and fights for Konohagakure, and all residents with the Land of Fire. It gives us the strength to keep going despite being outnumbered; it is the representation of the dreams and hopes of generation previous to you. If the Will is forgotten, then Konoha will fall._

Next he lists the class rankings of the students. Many claps, some whoop, some boo; finally he reads the teams. _Everyone_ listens at this point.

Monaka doesn't focus on any of her classmates' names, only waiting to hear hers.

"Team 7 will be: Monaka."

She leaps out her seat. " _Team 7_! WHOOOO!"

"Monaka, please."

"Lucky 7! Super Cool 7! Sassy 7 - "

"SIT DOWN!" Monaka falls into her seat. Iruka clears his throat. "Next is Uchiha Sanada."

Sanada jumps slightly. Monaka glances at her then sinks in her seat with a pout. " _Working_ with my rival I'm supposed to be _fighting_? Geez, ch'no ... "

"And Hyuuga Hotaru."

Hotaru turns cherry red. _M-M-Me?! On a team with two amazing people?! I-I'm happy but I don't feel like I deserve it!_

Shino puts one finger on the swaying boy's head to prevent him from falling.

Sakura groans. "Sanada's with her. Seriously?"

Inner Sakura cracks her knuckles. _How am I supposed to get her to acknowledge me now?!_

Ino giggles at her friend's reaction. She already knows her teammates.

"Team 8."

 _Not on a team with Monaka? Can't belive it!_ Kiba fumes in his hood.

"Inuzuka Kiba ... "

He listens.

"Aburame Shino ... "

Shino lets go of his hold on Hotaru, the only visible form of surprise. (Hotaru faceplants the floor.)

The Inuzuka shrugs. _Never really hated bugs._

"And Haruno Sakura."

Sakura ... blinks.

 _I'm sorry. Did Iruka-sensei just say you're on a team with the dog boy and the bug guy?_

 _OH, SHANNAROOOOO - !_

Ino laughs at her friend's misfortune.

So I got the weird, quiet guy, Kiba thinks. _And the cute girl_. He watches Sakura punch her giggling friend's shoulder. _They're both real smart. Hope we get along._

 _Sakura ... and ... Kiba_? Shino narrows his eyes beneath his glasses.

"And at last, Team 9, the next Ino-Shika-Chou trio."

No surprise there. When there's an Ino-Shika-Chou, they will be paired together, unless there is no Sarutobi sensei. It is tradition - almost law - the trio be taught by Sarutobi.

"You all have an hour to say your goodbye and begin your shinobi career." Iruka looks proudly at his students. "I will give you the scroll that says what location to head to." He bows. "It has been a great year with all of you and I wish you good luck."

* * *

The nine students meet up around Sanada's desk. No reason other than Ino and Sakura's insistence. Somehow witnessing Monaka and Sanada's fight made the nine of them - well, not as _intimate_ as friends, but as acquaintances. As if witnessing the redhead's progression together was some sort of bonding experience.

"Guess this is really it, huh?" Kiba says. "Welp, I'm proud of ya, little red." He punches her shoulder affectionately. "Sucks you won't be graced with my wonderful presence."

Monaka sticks her tongue out. "Sucks you won't become Hokage!"

"I will too! Just after I find my missing dad."

"Missing dad?" Sakura repeats.

"Uh, yeah, y'see, Mom's really scary and she scared away Dad. Hana - my big sis - actually knew who he was, but she never tried to find him. So I will."

Shino nods approvingly. "Sakura-san and I will help you achieve your goal."

Sakura starts. "Uh ... uh ... sure?" _Well, we're gonna be teammates, so_ ...

Ino sits on top the desk right next to Sanada who glares out the window. "Welp, we're gonna become the strongest team ever, the Ino-Shika-Chou! It'll be super cool, huh, Sanada-chan? We've got the best teamwork in Konoha!"

"I don't know," deadpans the Uchiha. "Don't you think you three argue too much?"

Ino blanches and the others laugh. "W-Well, it's a work in process, I mean _look_ what I have to work with here!"

Monaka adjusts her hitai-ate. "As Hokage, obviously _my team_ will be the strongest, ch'no!"

"Monaka, you're always hammering about being Hokage," says the Haruno. "As top kunoichi, it's more likely that _I_ got Hokage status. Plus, if I can get Hokage, the bet's totally over, Shikamaru."

The Nara groans. _Girls_ ...

Monaka puffs her cheeks. "No, I'm gonna be Hokage! I'm going to change Konoha for the better, ch'no!"

"But _I_ know loads about government already." She smiles. "Yep, that settles it - _I'm_ gonna be Hokage, too!"

 _NO! That's my thing!_ Monaka can already picture her in Hokage robes (not an adult, but a kid, mind you) as the Fifth Hokage, and the first female Hokage. She imagines Sakura building schools, libraries, and other _nerdy_ things, and everyone chanting _SAKURA! SAKURA!_

Monaka slumps with spirals in her eyes (earning a concerned look from the Hyuuga).

"Sakura-san," says Shino, looking more intimidating than usual. "Do not use a bet a reason to become the Hokage. That is not what a Hokage is."

The pink-haired girl breaks out into a cold sweat. "Sh-Shino ... you're scaring me. ... "

Kiba flinches. "Me, too. Hey, teammate, don't creep us out already!"

Shino jumps. Turns around. And sulks in a corner.

It's so absurd even Sanada can't ignore it. "You guys are a bunch of weirdos."

"Hey, hey, guys!" Monaka says, jumping out her seat with a huge grin. "We should all play a game! Just for old time's sake!"

Many students sweatdrop at her comment.

Shikamaru is the only one to voice his opinion out loud. "Monaka, three-fourths of us have only been friends with you for a day and a half, being generous."

That hurts her, but she hides it. "Well then, let's play this game and become friends!"

Ino brushes back her hair that hangs over her eye. "I've got fifty minutes to kill before our sensei comes. Why not?"

Upon hearing that, Sakura perks up. "Uh, yeah, if Ino wants to, I'm in."

Kiba stretches. "I'm all for not standin' still, yanno!"

Shino pushes up his glasses. "I suppose so."

Hotaru smiles shyly. " ... I-I-I would l-love to ... "

Sanada gives Monaka an even stare. "Depends on what game it is."

Monaka beams. "Sneak Attack!"

* * *

Sneak Attack is a game Academy students play often during recess. It is only playable with two people. Monaka never got to play the game with anyone because Kiba, her only friend, didn't really like that Akamaru couldn't play. In truth, it wasn't really orthodox having 2 versus 1, but since today is the last time they'll step foot in the Academy, standards are lower.

Essentially, the two ninja-in-training stand six to ten steps away from each other and face away, or, if they were close, they would be standing back to back.

Anyone on the sidelines must remain out the ninja's peripheral and cannot help. The goal is to land a hit on the opponent. And because ninja aren't afraid to cheat, it's not against the rules to peek early or to even turn around completely - so long as the other ninja doesn't notice.

Sanada is the absolute pro at the game, both cheating and not cheating. Sometimes to be funny, she would turn around and silently sneak up behind the opponent and knock them out before they even turned around. But with the upperclassmen, she never ever cheated, and her victories are impressive (two out of three chance of winning).

With Iruka's permission, the nine head out to the field. A game of paper, rock, scissors decides who's going when. Shikamaru sits in the shade with Chouji beside him.

The first two rounds reveals the two winners: Shino and Sakura.

Ino gasps. "Teammate versus teammate?" Then she smirks. "I wonder who's gonna win?"

Sakura pouts at her friend. "Ino, don't act so excited. We're going to be training together after all."

"Next round!" Monaka shouts and two more rounds reveals the next pair:

Ino and Kiba.

Ino sweats nervously. _I have to fight against dog boy?! But ... h-he stinks_!

Kiba smirks. "I ain't a real big fan of hitting weak, girly girls, but whatever."

"I'm sorry, WHAT WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Ino roars.

Kiba keeps a calm head, 'cause some girl who works at flower shop isn't as intimidating as girls with dogs that can rip heads off. "It means that you're a delicate girl." Akamaru barks.

"What you know WHAT? I was gonna go easy, but NOT ANYMORE!"

Sakura giggles at the entire situation.

"There's three of us left,"Sanada notes, looking at her team of Monaka and Hotaru. "I suppose one of us will have to go twice. I volunteer myself."

"N-N-No, I'll s-sit out ... " Hotaru manages.

"NO!" Hotaru almost jumps out his skin as Monaka turns him around and starts whispering. "Don't ya see? We can kick Sanada's butt now, huh?!"

Hotaru blinks furiously. "Wh-Wh-What?"

"Ya see, I get a shot at kicking her butt, then you do too! It's perfect, chunno! Ready, Hotaru-chan?"

He turns red. _Hotaru ... chan?_

Monaka takes his silence as agreement. "Right! Ready to go! Begiiin Sneak Attack!"

* * *

Sakura and Shino stand six steps apart. Sakura intends to use the shadows to determine if Shino has already turned, while Shino uses a bug to monitor her. Both do not cheat so blatantly.

"Alright!" Ino shouts. "In three ... two ... one!"

Both turn around, Sakura using a roundhouse kick just before the boy completely turns around, but as Shino can already see her using his bugs, anticipates the kick and connects a pulled kick of his own.

Sakura (with an "oof!") reels backwards. " ... shannaro, I lost."

Shino bows. "Good game."

" _Booo_!" Monaka shouts. "That was _lame_! Sakura-chan, you can cheat, ch'no!"

"Shuddup, I DID!"

"In this game," the redhead shouts back, "whoever cheats WINS!"

"Alright, my turn!" Kiba punches his teammates' shoulders and take his spot. Ino - with an evil smirk - walks to her spot.

They both face away, ten steps.

"I'm gonna beat you, dog boy."

"As if, girly girl."

Sakura cups her hands around her mouth. "Ready? On one."

Akamaru looks over Kiba's shoulder. "See anything?" One bark. "So she's not gonna cheat? Prolly thinks it's too 'dirty,' huh?"

 _Stupid dog boy! If his puppy weren't so cute, I'd just punch him already!_ Ino closes her eyes and makes an odd hand seal.

Shikamaru, who hadn't been able to sleep, notices her hand seal. "Aw man, she's doing that dangerous technique of hers."

"Huh?" Chouji says. "She looks like you when you're thinking really hard."

"Yeah, well, when she does it, it's real bad. It's a special kinjutsu only members of the Yamanaka know. Even then, very few learn it because it's not the safest thing ever."

" ... will she be okay?"

"Most likely."

Chouji slumps. _Most likely_ ... ?

"Okay," Sakura says. "Three ... two ... "

Ino turns around, and Akamaru barks. Kiba turns around just as soon as Akamaru stops and prepares for a hit -

"Waaah?! She's ... ?!"

Ino is lying on the grass, seemingly asleep. Sakura, completely puzzled, stops her countdown. " ... Ino?"

"BOOO!" Monaka roars. "No time for sleeping!"

Hotaru activates his Byakugan. _I can see her chakra flowing through her as usual, so she's not d ... dead. But what kind of technique is that, if it makes you sleep?_

Kiba scratches his head. "Well, um, guess I win? Right, Akamaru?"

Kiba turns to see his puppy's reaction and is rewarded with a bite to the nose.

He _screams_ and pulls his dog off his face. "A-Akamaru?! What's gotten into ya?!"

The puppy growls. As Kiba holds him up and above his face, Akamaru pees on him.

Kiba sputters and wipes his face off, his puppy landing neatly on the ground as his owner flips out.

Monaka guffaws; everyone else maintains their confusion.

The Akamaru stops ... shakes his head after a few seconds passed, and Ino rises up, laughing. "Victory!"

"Ino?!" Sakura says. "What in the - what just - ?"

"It's a super secret technique I wasn't supposed to show you." She smiles mischievously. "It's called the Mind Body Switch no Jutsu. With it, I can send my mind into other minds! How's THAT dog boy?" She laughs again.

Sakura blinks. "That's ... really cool."

Inner Sakura crosses her arms. _"Cool?" More like, overwhelmingly awesome._

"I see," mumbles the Uchiha. "The only price to pay is that not only you lose control of your body, but it requires that you remain close to somebody. That's why you turned around. You didn't really need to if it didn't require distance. Honestly, you could have possessed the puppy and waited until the countdown, and he would've never known." Sanada lets out a sound resembling a chuckle. "Impressive technique there."

Ino blinks, then her eyes twinkle. "Sanada-chan RECOGNIZED ME! ME! I IMPRESSED her!"

Sakura groans. _And I sat here and lost_!

Monaka quietly thinks about the words Sanada said. _She's real smart. We're up next, though. I'll show her I can be awesome, too!_

"Hey, you nine!" Another Academy teacher shows up. "We're cleaning the entire school right now, so quit slacking off and help."

The nine groan in unison and walk away.

The man relaxing in the tree branches huffs. "Really? Only my team didn't get a chance to fight? You all are jerks."

* * *

The new Team 7 await their sensei on the the Sky Rooftop, a rooftop for one of Konoha's many libraries. There are trees on the rooftop and a big arc with a banner that has the kanji for sky. There is also a railing to lean or look over Konoha's buildings.

Three new Genin sit on the steps; the Uchiha is on the left, the short girl in the middle, and the boy on the right.

The girl groans.

"Oh my KAMI, why is our Jounin-sensei so LATE?!" Monaka huffs. "I can't stand sittin' down for too long!" To prove her point, she starts kicking in her spot.

"Patience," mumbles Sanada, but even she has her doubts.

Jounin ninja are highly elite ninja; 40 percent of all ninja reach Chuunin - the next status, 20 percent receive special Jounin - which is a Chuunin with a Jounin-level technique - and only 10 percent ever reach Jounin. In other words, it's rare to even receive a Jounin promotion as those promotions are a Hokage's decision if the Hokage has multiple recommendations for a ninja.

In short, such an elite ninja should _not_ be three hours late.

"C'moon! I'm gonna prank him, and you guys can't stop me! This guy totally deserves it, ch'no!"

Sanada looks away with a "hmph." Deep down, she does feel it's a _little_ justified.

Hotaru twiddles his jacket strings. "Y-Y-You shouldn't pr-prank our new sensei, M-Monaka-chan ... "

Monaka growls. "I'm friggin' BORED! So's I'M gonna have fun, alright? Look, I even categorized all my pranks." She grins. "I'm _just_ gonna do the very basics, okay, guys?"

Sanada stills looks blankly at nothing; Hotaru gives Sanada a worried look, but doesn't stop Monaka from rambling about her prank. _Maybe I can help another way_ , he thinks. So he forms a seal. _Byakugan_!

With his doujutsu, or eye technique, activated, he can see ten meters away from him in any direction. He can see through objects. So when he catches a glimpse of something, he's so startled that he cancels his doujutsu and has to catch his breath. Sanada notices his shock with a wary frown.

Monaka remains oblivious to the events, even lecturing her friends on pranks. " ... but don't forget the classy eraser in door crack prank! Even if it's cliche, it was the beginning of a wonderful thing called _pranking_ , ch'no!"

She looks eagerly to her friends' faces.

 _Hey, the girl with the white eyes looks really surprised_! _And Sanada_ ... She frowns when she sees the Uchiha isn't paying attention. _Ignoring me again?! I thought we made progress in our relationship!_

She huffs and her face turns a light shade of red and she shuts her eyes tightly. "Whaat? You think my pranks aren't that amazing, huh, Sanada?"

The Uchiha rolls her eyes, looking at the redhead. "I don't care for childish pranks."

"You're ten like the rest of us, so don't go acting 30!"

Sanada growls. "Why you - !" She cuts herself off as her eyes watches something behind the redhead, and the girl tenses.

And that redhead is completely oblivious, only thinking she stunned Sanada speechless. "See, I'm the best pranker ever, chunno! I was thinkin' of getting some bugs and putting it in sensei's shirt, a totally classic and harmless prank, but still funny."

"Uh huh. Putting bugs in shirts is a very classy prank. Not as classy as chalk eraser in door crack."

Monaka smirks. "Thank you! I'm smarter than I look, chu - "

 _Wait a sec ... neither Sanada or nee-chan sound like grown men_ ...

Monaka turns around and releases a yelp.

The man who she looks at sits on the railing with silver hair and only one eyes visible. "Fox got your tongue?" the man says to Monaka.

The redhead shakes away her fear and glares at her teammates. "Why didn't ya TELL ME he was behind me?!"

"Didn't have the heart," quips the wary Uchiha. _This guy looks relaxed, almost like a sleeping person or a dead body. But I know he's anything but relaxed._

Hotaru, finally calm, sputters, "S-S-Sensei is c-coming!"

Monaka groans; Sanada deadpans, "Yeah, we kind of noticed."

"My, my, you three are really familiar with one another," says the Jounin. "Without thinking, who's the idiot, cold genius, and girl on this team?"

Sanada looks startled, as does Hotaru. Monaka is quick enough to reply, "Sanada's the genius, Hotaru-chan's a girl, and I'M the idiot and not afraid to admit it, ch'no!"

"I see," says the Jounin. "Especially with that chrysanthemum hanging out your hitai-ate." Monaka pokes at it, before placing it in her pouch.

Hotaru turns bright red. "G-Girl? I-I'm not a girl, I'm a boy!"

"Sure you are," smiles Monaka.

"Moving on," says the man sounding completely apathetic. "I want to know your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, and your dreams. Yanno, so we can ... " He sighs. " ... get to know each other."

Sanada and Monaka make a face. _It's like he doesn't want to be here._

"But wait," the redhead says. "Who're you?"

"Me?"

"Uh, yeah, I dunno who the heck you are!"

Sanada narrows her eyes. "He doesn't seem familiar ... "

Monaka perks up. "Familiar ... famil ... iar ... "

"Do you not understand what that word means?" the Uchiha exhales.

"No! I do! Just ... "

To speed up introductions, the Jounin says, "Okay. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like a lot of things, and my dislikes, well I try not to be too picky. As for my hobbies, I have plenty. And my dream is ... I don't really want to tell you."

She snaps. "I knew it!"

Kakashi blinks. _Huh. That wasn't the reaction I was expecting_.

" ... knew what?" Sanada says, hiding curiosity.

"This guy is really familiar cuz ... cuz that's Kaka-chan!"

"Kaka-chan?!" everyone echoes.

"Yup!" She grins like a cat. "I remember him now! Kaka-chan rescued me when I got kidnapped, ch'no! And sometimes he babysat me! But my memory sucks so I don't really remember much else ... Only that I haven't seen ya in forEVER, ch'no!"

Yes, Monaka can just barely recall a blurry memory of her riding on the back of a man with silver hair and a dull voice. She knows it was silver because the moonlight hit it and brightened the color. She remembers she was _exhausted_ , but not why; she remembers the man mumbling his name and she, half-asleep, called him _Kaka-chan._

 _Can't believe she remembered something like that?_ Kakashi thinks. _Usually her memory is awful._

"Y-You ... " Hotaru starts. "You were k-kidnapped, too?"

 _Why would anyone kidnap her?_ Sanada thinks with wide eyes. _She's absolutely useless! Right? Right?_

Monaka shuts her eyes. "Whaddya mean 'too?'"

"I-I was kidnapped too wh-when I was younger." Tears fills his eyes despite him clenching his fists hard enough so that it hurts. "E-Ever since that d-day, my life h-has never been the s-same. I pay for it e-everyday ... "

She scratches her head. "Oh. Um, geez, sounds as bad as Sanada's, er, situation. But it wasn't your fault, ch'no - you were too young to do anything, dummy!"

He shakes his head. "My f-family doesn't th-think that. Even if it were o-one time, th-that's one time t-too many."

The redhead only frowns, trying to think of something comforting, but she has zero experience of dealing with parents and family.

Sanada, however, says to end the silence, "My name is Uchiha Sanada. I dislike many things and I don't particularly like anything." She sounds as bored as she looks. "I have no dream, only a to-do list. I will kill the man who massacred my people."

A cold breeze passes through. Monaka decides she sincerely hates making that girl upset, Hotaru shrinks in on himself, and Kakashi's expression is unreadable.

"Er ... " Monaka clears her throat. "Don't have any hobbies?"

She glowers. "Training."

"Figures, ch'no ... My name's Monaka, and I don't have a last name, but having no last name makes ya more charismatic! I like a lotta things, especially ramen, and especially the ramen Iruka-sensei bought me, ch'no! I dislike ... hm, never really occurred to me, prolly veggies, yucky! A close second is waiting for ramen. My hobbies include watering plants and playing pranks. And my dream ... "

A big grin forms.

" ... is to become the Hokage so that everyone in the village will acknowledge me!"

Hotaru smiles and claps. Sanada does nothing.

 _Wow_ , Kakashi breathes. _I see what everyone means when they say this girl is taking heavily off the late oku-sama_.

"And the last," he says out loud.

Hotaru turns red. "Uuuum ... I-I'm Hyuuga Hotaru, a-and I like pretty things like Sh-Shino-kun's butterflies. I don't l-like hating things. M-My hobby is scrapbooking and m-my dream is ... " He hesitates. " ... is t-to support my l-little sister Hanabi-chan b-become clan head."

Huh?

Monaka scratches her ear. "Uh, I'm not a genius, but you're older, right? So how come she's getting the title?"

He winces. "M-My family considers me not ... w-worthy. I'm too w-weak so they ... "

" ... they practically disowned him," Sanada finishes. "Cast him out like we throw away trash. The Hyuuga aren't subtle about their shame of him."

Monaka cheeks turn red. "WHAT?! What a bunch a stupid JERKFACES! You just can't do that, ch'no! You're a human being, too!"

"B ... But I am weak. I'm n-nothing but w-weak. Hanabi-chan is st-stronger than me ... " _But that's why you're my role model. Ever since that day you help me ... I've been rooting you on!_

"Dummy! You're not! And I'm gonna make sure you show those grumpy idiots you're not, ch'no! Sometimes you just gotta set standards! Like me becoming the first female Hokage, you can become the heir even if you're 'weak!'"

Hotaru almost starts crying seeing such support from her grinning face, but he still wants to become stronger. He doesn't want to remain weak.

Sanada quirks a brow, but says nothing. That's when Monaka pales. "Wait, did you say 'he?'"

"I'm glad you all have your lives figured out and have such unique personalities," Kakashi interrupts. "But there's bad news."

* * *

"What do you mean there's bad news?" Sakura says. She looks back to her teammates - Shino and Kiba - who are just as confused as she is. "We're the Third - we've got the true test, and the others with the written test are going to be eliminated because they're not real ninja ... right?"

"The 'Third?'" Kiba echoes. "What the heck is that? That's good, right?"

"It's a theory that all stable hidden villages must have one-third of their population shinobi," she replies. "Sensei, even if we made the Third, we still have a chance at failing?!"

* * *

"C'mon, Kaka-chan, don't be that way," Monaka replies, not taking him seriously at all.

"Kakashi-sensei. I'm your sensei."

"Fine, then ... Kaka-sensei!"

Close enough. "Tomorrow, the three of us will go on a mission together. A survival mission."

Naturally, Sanada is the most curious. Or curious because of how wary she is. "The bad news?"

Kakashi smiles with his eyes. "Oh, you don't wanna know. It's baaad."

"Then why mention it if you weren't gonna tell us?"

"Well, if you're so curious ... !" Kakashi's composure changes from relaxed to overwhelming intense. "Out of the twenty-seven Genin that graduated your class, only nine will officially become ninja."

That's something the Academy didn't teach.

"What?! Why only nine?!" Monaka grabs her hitai-ate.

"Because you do understand we're raising children to become killers, right? And we can't have dozens of children running around each with a degree in killing people. If we allowed the shinobi population to become greater than one-third, Konoha will collapse." He scratches his chin. "Many, many villages face an overwhelming amount of ninja, unfortunately."

"O-Oh no ... " Hotaru mumbles wiping away tears.

"Those tests you took before? Just to weed out potential candidates. Now, if we do the math, you all have a 66 percent chance of failing and returning back to the Academy for another year. And for some of you, you're short on time. For others ... you can't go back."

Monaka and Sanada tense, startling their third teammate.

* * *

Team 8's sensei closes her red eyes. At first glance, she seems intimidating; she wears makeup to highlight her beauty and wears a dress resembling the thorns of a rose, but in her heart is compassion.

Kurenai Yuuhi opens her eyes. "The Third are never supposed to fail, but this year, it's different. One of the sensei is a man named Hatake Kakashi."

Sakura gasps. _That name's so familiar! Wait ... it can't be_ that guy _, can it?!_

"That man," she continues, "has never passed a team. And the team he has this year are the Third."

* * *

"Tomorrow at five o'clock sharp, I want you three to go to the designated training location: the Third Training Ground. Bring your ninja equipment and get ready for a long day." He smiles. "Oh and I recommend not having breakfast. You'll just puke it up." He Body Flickers away.

Monaka twitches. _Kaka-chan sure is a whole lot meaner!_

Hotaru pulls on his hair. _Ohnohnoohnoohno_ ...

Sanada looks in the other direction, scowling deeply.

* * *

The crows are up and cackling in the forest. Crows are plentiful in the Land of Fire, though they're heard more than they're seen. The sky is a muted shade of purple as the sun lazily drifts over the horizon.

Three hungry Genin enter the clearing. First is a redhead who's sleeping while walking (who knows how she made it there), a boy who yawns before covering it up and blushing, and a cool and collected girl biting the inside of her cheek.

They greet each other and sit down on the grass waiting for their sensei ... even as the sky turns blue.

"It's almost six-thirty," Sanada states, removing her eyes from the sun. "He was late but never this late."

Monaka snores, using Hotaru's lap as a pillow, causing the boy to stiffen up so that he won't wake her up. "I-I agree. Wh-What do we do?"

"I want to train. I want to complete my checklist." She steeples her fingers. "Hotaru ... from what I heard ... is it true your Byakugan can see through genjutsu?"

"U-Um, yes ... " He wonders where she heard that from. Academy doesn't talk about doujutsu because the only clans who use them are taught by their own family members. As Sanada is the last Konoha Uchiha, there's no one to teach her.

"I see. The Uchiha are supposed to be a clan with a high affinity for genjutsu. Meaning if I learned genjutsu and I manage to fool even you, then I must be strong enough to kill him, too. That man never had to train with a Hyuuga."

He looks around with quick glances. "U-Um ... who i-is that man ... if y-you don't mind me asking ... ? It was never r-revealed to the public ... "

"It was. You didn't know because the Hyuuga see the Uchiha as rivals. They wouldn't care who did the killing." Small traces of killing intent leak out from her. "That man was my older brother."

Hotaru's eyes widen immensely at that. "Y-Your ... your ... ?"

"Enough about me. All I know about you is that you've been kidnapped just like this dead last over here. Anything else?"

" ... I-I have a s-sibling who's even better at the By-Byakugan than me ... Everyone c-considers him the best Hyuuga there is."

Sanada raises a brow. "Speak."

"H-He graduated a year ago ... his n-name is Hyuuga Neji, my cousin."

"And he's even better than you? I need to revise my goals, then. First I'll beat you, then him, then I can face that man."

... _She's so competitive, but ... it makes sense, I think_. "All you d-do is train and c-compete?"

She nods.

"Why not ... make fr-friends, too?"

"Friends? Why do I need friends? Friends are a big waste of my time, and everyone's so superficial. How are friends going to help me kill someone?"

He twiddles his fingers. "W-We can work together a-and ... " But he doesn't really want to kill someone. Why even offer to help someone kill someone? Yeah, he's a murderer, but ...

"Oh wow, such a girly-looking boy like you is totally going to help me murder someone. Plus the dead last can't do anything right." She rolls her eyes. "I'm running out of time, Hotaru. The longer he's alive, the stronger he becomes. Even I can't ignore that. But I am a prodigy, so I move quicker than all of you combined. I don't need friends, I need rivals to beat so I can get stronger."

Hotaru slumps. There's really nothing he can do to convince her to let two people so beneath her to help. " ... i-if you really w-wanna beat me b-before Neji-nii-san, th-then I'll do my best to h-hold my own."

The Uchiha smirks. "Well, you better pass this test and then we'll see."

* * *

They end up waiting for even longer. By now, Monaka is awake and is annoying the Uchiha and bugging the Hyuuga. The only way to keep her bearable is to teach her the basic Academy jutsu and accuracy tests. Their sensei is so late, Hotaru and Sanada have already spent three hours training her.

"Y-You shouldn't use too m-much chakra," Hotaru says. "W-We have a mission today ... "

"I got this, Hotaru-chan!" Monaka prepares another clone technique, the normal kind in which the clones are only illusions and not physical copies. It should be noted her Kawarimi and her Henge are excellent compared to yesterday.

"What are you three doing?"

Monaka shrieks again while her teammates watch their (late) sensei arrive casually.

"You're LATE!" Monaka shouts.

"Sorry 'bout that," he says. "I was almost here until I realized I was wearing two left shoes. So I had to go back."

They are not amused.

"O-Oh! That sounds unfortunate!" Hotaru says. "You n-need to be more careful, sensei!"

... both girls give him a look.

 _Alright_ , Kakashi thinks. _I have no words to explain that. I'm pretty sure shinobi shoes don't have left feet, but -_

"Oh, would you look at the time? It's 10:50." He pulls out an alarm clock and sets it on a nearby tree stump. "You have until noon to grab these." He also pulls out two bells tied to a red string. "So ... seventy minutes from now. The person who doesn't grab a bell gets tied to a tree and no lunch."

Upon mentioning lunch, their bellies growl.

 _That's why we couldn't eat breakfast_ ... Hotaru sighs.

 _Kaka-sensei's so cruel, ch'no_. Monaka groans, gut beginning to hurt. "By the way, I am _completely_ cool with cannibalism if I get too hungry. I'm comin' after you, Kaka-sensei."

"Why is there only two bells when there should be three?" Sanada says instead.

"I'm glad you noticed! There's only two because one of you guys will be sent back to the Academy."

All the Genin tense. Their sensei suddenly becomes more intense.

"As your Jounin sensei, I make the rules. If either one of you fail to get a bell, you will be sent back, no questions asked. So," he adds, "any questions?"

Monaka raises her hand. "I got one. Why you gotta be a big jerkface?"

"Why are you upsetting the man that can kick you off?" Sanada sighs.

"I can do whatever I want, Sanada! Shuddup!"

" ... I th-think the hunger's g-getting to her ... " Hotaru offers just as her stomach growls. Sanada nods.

"Any more questions?"

Hotaru stares at the ground. "H-How do we get one?"

He clings the bells together. "You have to come at me with the intent to kill. Taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu, traps, anything. If you aren't prepared to kill me, then you won't be getting a bell."

The Hyuuga falls. _Ahh! More talk about murdering people! I don't know what to do ... !_

The redhead pouts. "Hmph. I ain't going back to the Academy, ch'no ... "

"You can want all you want," he smiles. "But it doesn't matter what you want if you can do what you want."

"What. WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Monaka turns red in the face. "Damn it, Kaka-sensei, why are you so mean, ch'no?!"

"Monaka, wait - !" Sanada begins, but Monaka grabs a kunai and dashes towards Kakashi.

 _It's time to teach Kaka-sensei a lesson about this future Hokage_!

... or so she thinks.

The gap between a recent Academy dead last graduate and a full Jounin ninja is rather large. Without her even seeing or even noticing it, she's turned facing her frightened teammates. It takes more seconds to figure out the hand holding her kunai is behind her head with the sharp end poking her, and Kakashi is holding both her wrists so tightly, she has no hope of breaking free.

Not that she wants to. There is a kunai poking her skull. She's not that stupid.

Tsk, tsk, tsk," Kakashi says casually. "So anxious to begin, I see. I didn't even say start yet. Sanada, Hotaru, let this be a lesson. Reckless teammates are useless teammates and will get themselves killed long before you do."

Monaka growls. " ... I'm so kicking your butt, Kaka-sensei."

"If there's one thing I can commend," - he lets go of her - "you came at me with the intent to kill. Plus ten points to you."

Sanada takes a step back. _I didn't see him move. Getting those bells is going to be harder than I thought._

Hotaru gets to his feet. _No way ... This is too scary_. He looks at Monaka who seems both happy of the "ten points" she's received and confused over what it means. _But if she won't give up, the least I can do is help her, even if one of us is leaving_...

"Now for the moment you've been waiting for," Kakashi says. "Ready ... set ... start."

* * *

 **Post A/N: I'm a little upset I didn't really have the motivation to complete this chapter, and I'm worried it showed in my writing. My aim is to get** _ **better**_ **at writing and I can't really accomplish that if I'm writing sloppily and lazily. I'm sorry if it showed in my writing and I'm sorry that this took so long. EDIT As motivation, I translated OP 19, but I'm by no means a professional translator, so feel free to edit it! It's on my profile!**

 **Post Post A/N: SOHL is mainly Action, Adventure, and Comedy (heavy emphasis on that). Not a soap opera! However, I have to include the backstories because they're important, so if these early chapters feel like a soap opera, I'm so sorry! I'm also sorry if Monaka isn't getting enough screen time, but after the bell test, she will get LOADS of screen time. As I said, I've got sow the plot seeds. But once everything is growing, this will become more of what I want this to be.**

 **I forgot to mention this way earlier, but I introduced Monaka/Naruto's nindou (Ninja Way) early because Naruto meets Zabuza at 12 and Monaka is 10; so she won't meet him for another two years. That said, Kakashi will talk to her about the "ninja being a tool for a village to exist" talk.**


	6. Episode 6, Genin Days Arc 3

Any sane ninja would scatter to a hiding place.

So why is he looking at a redhead?

 _At least the others hide pretty well_ , Hatake Kakashi sighs. "You know, sane ninja would try hiding, not standing in the open. Ninja _are_ famous for stealth."

"I don't have time for stealth, ch'no!" The redhead stands defiant. The sunlight glares off her goggles's lenses. "It's gonna be noon soon, I'm hungry, I ain't goin' back, and most of all - what the hell is 'ten points?!'"

" ... you're weird, you know? Your priorities are out of order. Don't you remember what I did?"

"I wasn't ready before, but now I am!"

 _What is this little idiot doing_? Sanada groans silently on a nearby tree branch.

 _You can probably do it, Monaka-chan_! Hotaru roots from behind a tree, the closest one to Kakashi.

Kakashi shrugs. "Okay, do whatever you want kid." He reaches in his back pouch and Monaka eyes him carefully. Slowly, he pulls out -

an orange book and proceeds to read it. "I'm ready."

Monaka doesn't read the book, but the cover is _Icha Icha Paradise (Not For Kids!)_. "Y-You're _reading_?!"

"Uh-huh," he says, not really listening. "Taijutsu. Ninja battle skill lesson number one: hand to hand combat. So go on and hit me, but don't think you're actually going to hurt me. You're pathetically weak and sloppy."

Hotaru covers his mouth. _Oh no. She's completely out-matched, but ... but I'm good in taijutsu! I could ... I could ..._

"You don't know anything yet!" she says, anger getting the best of her. "You just met me as a ninja!"

 _She's so stupidly reckless_ , Sanada thinks. _How can anyone be this dumb?_

"All you do is yell. It's starting to get annoying."

She growls before launching herself toward the Jounin again. _I don't care! I'm onto Kaka-sensei now!_

She starts by jumping and kicking, aiming for his arm, but Kakashi blocks that with his knuckles. She lands on the ground and tries to punch him, but he easily sidesteps that one. She runs the short distance, cupping her right in her left, and prepares to hit him with an overhead punch.

But it meets only air.

"Huh ... ? Where'd he go?"

"See what I mean? I think a newborn is more menacing than you, only because they've got projectile vomit."

Sanada's mouth falls open slightly. _His speed is unreal compared to us._

Kakashi crouches _behind_ the redhead, fingers folded together with the two fingers pointing up.

 _That's a seal_ , Hotaru notes. _The tiger seal, but I don't know any jutsu that requires only one hand seal ... this is bad, Monaka-chan!_

Sanada is arguably less concerned. _That's the tiger seal. Almost all Fire Release techniques end in tiger seals. If that's what he's planning, he's going to incinerate her._

 _Even if I tried to help ..._ Hotaru thinks. _Kakashi-sensei is too fast. I wouldn't be able to get halfway across the distance ..._

Monaka looks at the man from over her shoulder. " ... you! How'd you move so fast, ch'no?!"

Kakashi goes from bored to intimidating. "Konohagakure _Secret Taijutsu Technique_!"

Monaka pales.

 _Monaka-chan!_

Sanada reaches for her kunai pouch. _She's going to get killed_ ... !

Kakashi begins to move, eyes shinning, as the technique begins. "One Thousand Years of Death!"

The technique - Monaka makes a face at this point - is him jamming his fingers up her butt and sending her flying into the nearby stream.

 _That ... wasn't a jutsu at all_ , Sanada blinks.

Hotaru covers his mouth with both hands. _Th-That was a kanchou! It's a school prank where kids poke others in their b ... bottoms_. He sways. _Wh-Why would our sensei do such a prank? I don't understand ...!_

"I guess I probably set a new record in distance, eh?" he mumbles to himself, stands up, and resumes reading his book.

•

 **SHINOBI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

 **Genin Days Arc**

 **Episode** **6**

 **The Bell Test and Kakashi-sensei's Final Decision!**

 **Synopsis** _: Monaka, Sanada, and Hotaru meet their new sensei: Hatake Kakashi. But what they don't know is that Kakashi is a fail sensei, or a sensei that's supposed to fail all his teams! How will Team 7 convince him that they can be an actual team?! By beating him at his own game, of course! Part 2 of 2._

 _A/N: **BOLD IS FLASHBACK.** I think pacing will still be fast, but slow overall. You guys may not remember, but there was a week time skip in the original. As these guys are 10, I wanted to flesh out the time skip and have them learn something. Enjoy approximately 10,500 words! I almost wanted to split this up, but was like "nah." Also, couldn't do page breaks because it's glitchy. __**Chakra Fact From SOHL 2:**_ _All jutsu used is always a mixture of yang and yin chakra. However, some jutsu requires more yin than yang or vice versa. Some jutsu can be effective even if a person doesn't have flawless chakra control._

 **April, 45 years NE**

 **Monaka: 10 years, 6 months**

 **Rewrote/Posted: 6 June, 2016**

•

Monaka lets herself stay under the water, her anger forming bubbles around her. _I'm starving! I haven't eaten anything since last night! I'm hungry and kinda exhausted! But ... I'm not giving up! I worked so hard to get to this point; so many of my friends worked hard to get me here. Even Iruka-sensei risked his life to save me!_

She adjusts her hitai-ate. _I ain't through yet! I think I've gotta plan in the making!_

•

Sanada glances at the clock. _10:52. There's still time to grab the bells, but how? A trap maybe?_ She starts to go through all the traps she's capable of when the stream starts to bubble. _What's that?_

 _Did Monaka-chan drown?!_ Hotaru thinks, tears forming in his eyes.

Kakashi eyes the stream. "Maybe I should've asked if she could swim or not?"

He gets his answer when she hops out the body of water and drops to her knees, panting. "Okay, not through yet!" She adjusts her hitai-ate and pulls her goggles off her eyes so that the water inside it falls out.

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to use taijutsu again? It really is impossible to teach you."

"Shuddup, ch'no! And if you're gonna poke my butt again, it won't work!" She pushes wet strands of hair out her face and darts to the Jounin. "Try this!"

The Jounin feels ready to knock some sense in the dense girl -

No, he's pleasantly surprised when he sees five other Monaka jump out the stream, not being just an illusion. Then the tiniest bit disappointed when all the Monaka start to use taijutsu. Baby steps, Kakashi, baby steps.

 _She can use Multi Shadow Clone no Jutsu without dying, most likely due to the effects of the Kyuubi. But didn't Iruka mention "chibi-sized Monaka?"_

 **Monaka races toward Mizuki. "Multi Shadow Clone no Jutsu!"**

 _ **Did ... did she say her technique out loud? What.**_

 **"No, that'll kill you!" Iruka shouts, but starts coughing soon after.**

 **And a puff of smoke engulfs her. Out smoke are hundreds of - !**

 **Hundreds of half a foot tall midgets? Mizuki completely drops his guard. "What the hell is this?!"**

 **"** _ **Chibi Monaka Barrage**_ **!" squeaks hundreds of chibi who swarm Mizuki like locusts. He barely manages to preform Body Replacement to get away.**

Kakashi shrugs while watching the approaching girl. _Guess she's been practicing._

Sanada watches the impending battle in shock. _Six clones - six real clones. How? How did she do that?_

The first Monaka tries a punch Kakashi swats away with his book. The second and third kick in unison, but Kakashi pushes their kicks and them with the flat side of his book. The two hit the ground and disappear.

The next two pull out shuriken and kunai and launch them at their sensei. Kakashi dodges them without looking, frustrating them all.

"Nothing we're doing is working!" one Monaka huffs.

"He's just too strong!"

"We're not giving up just yet, Monakas!" The four remaining Monaka all form a hand seal in unison. Then they disappear into another cloud of smoke. And once it disperses, in it -

A hundred, tiny battle cries ring out

\- is exactly what Iruka mentioned.

A hundred half-foot tall midgets. Kakashi is even impressed, because a regular ninja trying that would be dead before the technique even began.

 _Wh-What kind of jutsu is that?!_ Hotaru blinks furiously. _There's a bunch of Mini Monaka!_

 _Why ... why am I not surprised she can turn any jutsu into an embarrassment._ Sanada shakes her head like she's disappointed, but it's really to hide a small smile.

"So you're gonna beat me using chibi-sized you?" Kakashi says.

"Advantage in numbers, I always say!" says most of the chibi.

"No you don't!"

"Fine! I think it - it's like the same thing, right?!"

"Thinking is not the same thing as speaking."

"Is so! I mean, ya still use a voice, chunno! There's a voice in your head right now!"

"There's voices in my head?! Oh man - "

"Just shuddup and get those bells, chibi!" roars what should be the real Monaka.

 _Even as a team with just herself, she sucks,_ the Uchiha smirks. But it soon turns into a groan as her stomach growls.

Kakashi Body Flickers away when the chibi army gets too close. How do you kill a chibi? He can honestly say this is the first time he's ever done this. He can't really see any tactical advantage for a bunch of slow-moving, horrendous teamwork, and short attention span chibi armies.

The chibi stop once they realize he left, then charge the spot he's now in.

 _This is probably the stupidest fight I've ever been in ..._ Kakashi thinks with a sweatdrop. _No, maybe my fight with Obito was even more stupid._

"You know," he says, "if it didn't work the first time, it probably isn't going to work again."

"Huh?" mumbles the chibi army.

"You can't expect to defeat your opponent with your weakness. You're _not_ an expert in taijutsu. Maybe someday you'll get better, but as of now, you're weak and that's not going to change. Hotaru over there is the expert in taijutsu, and he _should_ be attacking me instead of you, but he and Sanada only know how to _hide_."

Hotaru flinches. _Th ... That's right. I should be out there helping Monaka-chan!_ He forms a hand seal. _Byakugan!_

"Tch." _I'm only hiding to gain a strategic advantage, Kakashi._

The chibi collapse into one, exhausted Monaka. "Well, what am I supposed to do, ch'no?! I _can't_ do anything! The only thing I learned was how to get gooder chakra control so I can perform jutsu! I didn't learn anything else!"

"So you admit you're weak," Kakashi says, voice almost gentle.

"Well, yeah! I'm starving, wet, and tired cuz you keep kicking my butt - as well as poking it. But even if I suck, I'm still gonna get one of those bells!"

"Hm. You're going to need a better plan than 'multiply and destroy.'"

"But that's the _best_ plan!"

Kakashi is about to respond when he hears the sound of a bush's leaves rustling and sees a boy with his Byakugan activated and faint, blue chakra glowing from his fingertips.

 _I'm strong! If I can gain the strength to defeat my bullies, I can gain the strength to help Monaka-chan! Gentle Fist!_ Hyuuga Hotaru thinks.

 _Gentle Fist,_ Kakashi thinks gloomily. _Gotta be careful. One false step and my organs could be ruptured. Not to mention my tenketsu - my chakra points. If he hits one of those, I won't be able to use chakra._

Monaka blinks. "Woah, Hotaru-chan looks cool!"

Kakashi snaps his book shut, puts it in his back pouch, and starts dodging the hits. On one hand, if he had been in a fight with an adult Hyuuga, he would never let himself get too close. But this is a child. Not only is he shorter than the Jounin, but he's less experienced.

Still, Kakashi sees fewer openings than he expected. Make sense as the Hyuuga was supposed to be the heir, and could only be trained with the strongest Hyuuga. No doubt he was training with that prodigy Hyuuga Neji since he could stand.

Sanada's mouth forms an O. _His hits are almost too fast to see. He might have chance at this. Maybe if Hotaru grabs the bells, I can easily overpower him and grab one._

 _C'mon, Hotaru! You can do it!_ Hotaru starts panting. Spars with Neji are dozens more strenuous, but every spar only lasts a minute or two, most of which Hotaru spends receiving blow after blow after blow. He really is weak.

Before he can exhaust himself too much longer, he cancels Gentle Fist and leaps back. His sensei doesn't look tired, but his body language was originally tensed.

 _What was that, a little over a minute? You could do better than that_. He turns off the Byakugan. He can see Kakashi perfectly fine and can't do much of anything else.

"Pretty okay, Hotaru," Kakashi admits. "But, how much can you do without the Byakugan?"

Faster than he can react, Kakashi sends an uppercut to Hotaru's stomach, sending the boy skidding backwards, thankfully on his feet. The Jounin crossed the distance with unnatural _speed_.

Hotaru coughs, but gets into his stance, palms ready for hitting.

"Hotaru-chan, hey, you okay, ch'no?!" Monaka calls, but eeps when Kakashi looks at her.

"Ninja battle skill lesson number two," Kakashi says. "Genjutsu."

She blinks before leaves cloud her vision, swirling around her and up into the sky. It's all so _mesmerizing_...

Wait! She blinks, looking for Kakashi and Hotaru, but seeing no one. "Hey...Hey, guys?! Where'd you go, ch'no?! Hey!"

She turns, observing the whole clearing, but seeing nothing. She can barely remember what happened before.

"Genjutsu is a process of extreme chakra control to interrupt someone else's chakra flow. Some genjutsu influence what their target sees."

Kakashi's disembodied voice booms all around her.

"Some genjutsu can be activated by sight - such as _eyes_ , hearing - such as _music_ , taste - such as _poison_ , smell - so, _scents_ , or the classic, disrupting chakra flow.

"But only the last one is usually preformed on higher ranks to lower ranks. That's because very few genjutsu are effective by simply disrupting flow due to the way disrupting chakra flow is too jarring. Or as Kurenai says, it's too sudden, and it has one major weakness."

"Hey! Come out right NOW!"

"They're easy to get out of. All you have to do focus your own chakra and disrupt yourself. It doesn't require much energy at all. Other genjutsu such as sound-based or scent-based requires you to eliminate the source and-or disrupt your chakra."

"That's it? Well, I can do that in my sleep, ch'no!"

She presses her hands together and shuts her eyes, trying to pull her chakra together, but it's as slippery as oil, and that's even when she can almost grab it.

"Can't do it, can you? Time is running out. While you're in dreamland, your classmates have more of a chance of getting a bell than you."

She glares up at the sky. "SHUT UP! I'm so SICK of you bad-mouthing me, ch'no! Just wait until I get outta here! Imma force Hotaru-chan to help me kick your ass for poking MINE! Don't think I FORGOT!"

"Hmm, so noisy. Let's give you another incentive to hurry up." The ground cracks and trembles under Monaka. She can barely remain upright, but she sees pieces of the clearing falling into holes. "Genjutsu can seriously hurt you. Not physically, but psychologically. If you fail to escape, you'll hurt just as if this were reality. In worse cases, you could even die."

Her jaw drops open. _This is definitely payback for me using taijutsu, ain't it...?_

"I'm not GIVING UP! Bring it on, Kaka-sensei!" Monaka resumes focusing on her chakra, just as another chunk of the genjutsu world falls into a deep, deep hole.

•

Hotaru watches as Monaka's eyes dull and her body grows loose.

 _Genjutsu. But I can break her out of there, if I just -_

He's interrupted by a kick to the face, sending him turning in the air and knocked away further from his teammate. He gets to his feet, trying to ignore his sore stomach and stinging jaw.

"Hotaru, just how dependent are you on that Byakugan?" he hears Kakashi say. "Is taijutsu the only thing you're capable of?"

"N-No, I..." Man, it hurts to talk. That reminds Hotaru of Neji's teammate, someone of the name "Rock Lee." He relies only on taijutsu, and Hotaru's spars with Neji had him reveal how many times Lee had ever won: none.

"If you're going to rely heavily on one technique, make sure you're the best at it, okay?" With that, Kakashi flickers right in front of him, startling him and having him stumble backwards. Kakashi doesn't have his book out, but it is sticking out of his side pocket. "You're pretty slow on your feet, you know."

Hotaru gets in a ready stance. _Kakashi-sensei isn't reading his book. The only way I'll know he's taking me seriously is if he doesn't read his book, right?_ He glances over to Monaka's direction where she lies unmoving on the grass. _I need to do something quick ... !_

"You should worry about what's in front of you, Hotaru."

Hotaru (going "eep!") ducks Kakashi's side kick and jumps over the sweep kick. Now he's in the air unable to control what direction he goes in, and the Jounin takes complete advantage, roundkicking him into a nearby tree. Hotaru slams hard and leaves fall out the tree. He slides down the bark and onto his butt.

"I think you know where you went wrong, eh?" Kakashi reaches for his book without looking. _I overestimated him. I don't know if I should be disappointed or not._

 _No! He thinks I'm no longer a threat!_ Hotaru's already quickened breathing increases. _And I still need to save Monaka-chan!_

In a moment of desperation, he grabs kunai out his thigh pouch and launches them near Kakashi's book. The Jounin moves his hand out the way to let the kunai pass through the gap.

 _Clever thinking, Hotaru,_ Sanada thinks with a smirk. _Now it's my turn. If I wake up the girl, she'll be perfect bait for my trap, not to mention I know she'd give me the bell for waking her up. She's ... just that kind sometimes._ Sanada quietly hops to the next tree using the shadows for cover.

 _He almost took a finger off there_. The Jounin eyes the panting boy struggling to his feet. _Hm_.

 _This is nothing, Hotaru. Nothing compared to the spars with Neji-nii-san. So get up_. His fingertips glow under the Gentle Fist technique but his eyes don't activate.

From the tip of his vision, he can see Sanada approaching the sleeping redhead. _I think Sanada-san is going to wake up Monaka-chan! If that's the case, it's my job to buy her time._

•

Sanada crouches where Monaka lays. She looks like she's sleeping. Maybe the genjutsu only made her fall asleep, the girl suspects. Sanada remembers that a rule for genjutsu is: if a person on the outside disrupts an effected person's chakra, the genjutsu is over.

She starts to do just that, when she sees a book sticking out her pocket. The Uchiha grabs it and sees it's wet from when she fell in the stream. Sanada flips through a few seals and a fire forms on her hand. She dries the book off using that fire in an impulsive decision.

Ever since her "true test," Sanada has been feeling antsy about her confrontation with Itachi. She's pathetic and she knows it.

 _ **That fight last night ... she actually hit me. The dead last actually hit me. She's making more progress in three days than I in three years - she HAS to know how to do it!**_

She's glad _she's_ number one, because at least she knows she's strong in some way. Because ever since she's been intent on leaving the Academy, she's been nothing but a failure.

 **Help.**

 **That's it.**

 **That's the secret!**

 **With that, she passes the true test.**

This dead last has something to do with her success, Sanada knows that much. She doesn't understand how or where. How can someone weaker than her help her? _She's about to help me get these bells._ Now that the book is dried, she replaces it and glances up to see Hotaru fighting again.

A plan forms in her head. _Wait a second ... Monaka, stay here. I've got another idea._ She forms a familiar hand seal.

 _Henge no Jutsu._ The book takes on the appearance of the cover on Kakashi's book. Sanada knows it's accurate because she has exceptional eyesight. _Step two ..._

"There's our little hide and seek champion."

His sudden appearance annoys her more than startles. "Ah, either Hotaru's fighting a clone, or you're the clone. And I'm leaning for the latter." She smirks. "The Byakugan can see chakra points. I'm pretty sure it can see fake bodies, too."

Kakashi scratches his head with one finger. "I wouldn't get so cocky if I were you. You never know - I could've been the alarm clock the entire time."

Now she's no longer amused. Sanada snaps her attention to the tree in which Kakashi stands in, high above her. "Understand that I'm different from the dead last and the wannabe princess. I have an ambition to fulfill and I've got no time for you."

"Ah, I'm so terrified by a Genin who just graduated a day ago. Look out world, here comes a rebel."

"Tch!" Sanada forms a series of hand seals - Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger - _Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu_ \- and breathes in deeply.

 _So the Uchiha girl can use her clan's trademark jutsu_ , Kakashi notes, but _there's no way she can pull it off_.

She cups a hand around her mouth

 _It takes a huge amount chakra Genin don't have._

as she breathes out, fire replacing air, an uncanny resemblance to a dragon breathing fire.

Kakashi blinks. _Maybe she_ can _pull it off, but how?_

The fire burns the bottom of the tree before Sanada stops. She pants, looking for Kakashi's (ideally) burning body, but as the fire clears out, finds nobody.

"C'mon, get up, I need you for my trap, you little idiot!" Sanada touches Monaka's head. " _Kai_!"

Monaka ... remains sleeping.

"What? It didn't _work_?"

"Ninja battle skill lesson number three: ninjutsu."

Panicking, she jumps away from her position just as a pair of hands come out the ground. He soon jumps completely out the ground and stretches. "Man, hoping I could get you with that."

 _What was that?_ Sanada pulls Monaka closer to her.

"Ninjutsu are feats a normal human could never accomplish, but almost all ninjutsu techniques require chakra. The more effective the technique is means the more chakra control one has. That's the ability to not waste unnecessary chakra."

 _This guy is just as strong as Itachi._ "Cut the speech; why won't she wake up?"

"That isn't an ordinary genjutsu. It's called a _Magen,_ a Demonic Illusion. They're tougher to crack."

 _Magen_ genjutsu ... Sanada chuckles humorlessly. "This world ... there's something wrong with this world."

Kakashi tilts his head. How could a ten-year-old be wise enough to realize that?

"In Academy," the Uchiha explains, "we learn how to build up muscle for taijutsu, and how to punch and kick correctly. In my clan, I learned how to punch faster, kick swifter, and become better. And yet, _you're_ still better than me. In this world ... we're taught the fundamentals. But there's always something more advance or complex out there." She smiles. A smile devoid of warmth. "Kakashi, I am not going back, not yet. How do I get rid of the _Magen_?!"

Her potential sensei shrugs. "Doesn't matter. You're just not strong enough."

"Then ... I don't care if you're stronger than me," she says, illogical anger clouding her reasoning. "The genjutsu will break if I demand you to cancel it once I beat you, right?"

"That's a lot of talk for someone who could be an arm rest," Kakashi says cheerfully. "Arrogance led to the downfall of many great heroes."

She sneers. "That's where you're wrong. I'm not a hero. I don't care about stuff like that." _All I care about is fulfilling my goal._

 _How did those Yamanaka psych evaluations pass her? Furthermore, I see why I was assigned to her; that's a dangerous ideology she's got going for her,_ Kakashi thinks. "If you believe that, then come on." He jingles the bells. "You can't go back to the Academy, remember?"

Sanada smirks, ready to begin.

•

"Stupid genjutsu - who needs to mentally hit people when you got two _fists_ right here, ch'no?!"

There's no telling how long she's been in this false world, trying in vain to control her chakra but there's too much, and she's spent all of three days out her ten year life to even try to seriously control it.

 _Damn it, Kaka-sensei, you suck!_

Around Monaka, the collapsing of the forest is almost complete. Wherever the holes are, the blacker the blue sky becomes. She's angry and frustrated, but above all _scared scared scared_. Though she just continues to complain to forget about her fears.

 _I don't understand! Why won't this work?! The only way to get outta here is to disrupt my chakra, but I can't even do that, and if I fail, it's gonna really hurt! What am I supposed to do?! Fail?!_

That sends a surge of anger stronger than ever through her. _He's setting me up for failure! He wants me to fail! I can't believe that!_

She looks up. "If you're there, Kaka-sensei, you better realize that you can't set me up to fail, ch'no! When you challenge me, don't you ever make it impossible for me to win!"

Joke's on him. Monaka will never set herself for failure.

All her life people have been disappointed in her. She remembers the first person who wasn't: the Third Hokage. She remembers the afternoons and sometimes mornings in which he would visit her lonely apartment and talk to her like a human being.

 **"What is that?" The Third Hokage says gently, referring to a picture Monaka finished coloring.**

 **"See, that Mom." Monaka's chubby fingers points to the figure that's a combination of a mecha hero, magical girl, and part angel. "She like those manga I read, chunno! And that Dad." She points to the rock beside it.**

 **"Well ... why is he a rock?"**

 **The redhead grins. "So that Mom can throw him at window and break 'em! They the best tag-team duo ever, ch'no!" She giggles.**

 **The Hokage smiles awkwardly. "Why would your mom be breaking windows?"**

 **"Because it** _ **funny**_ **! I think Mom and Dad go 'round the world to break window!"**

 **"Okay, okay ... so you think you're part mecha-magical girl-angel and rock?"**

 **Monaka takes a moment to think about that. "Eh ... didn't a bunny drop me off here?"**

 **" ... who told you that?"**

 **"Some dummy with goggles he give me!" She shows him her new, orange goggles, a little beat up with age.**

 _Those were the days! ... besides the fact I was totally stupid, but meh._ But now she knows she's disappointed him with all her stunts and schemes for attention and resentment, because when she was young, she felt everyone's negative energy. And that hateful energy was better than the cold nothingness.

And she understands that was wrong. It pushed her away from people she was actually close to. And she won't forget that being herself landed her with all these new friends who helped her become Genin.

 _I'm not really good with names, but I remember Sakura-sensei's name the most! What would she do if she saw her student give up? Prolly hit me really hard._ She grins. _Kaka-sensei wants me to be scared and give up, but he's a big dummy for thinking that, chunno!_

The next hole is a meter away. She hears the familiar cracking noise that all locations do before they drop. Following that logic, she decides to run to the soon falling location and makes it there just after it completely collapses.

Monaka smirks, expression bright even as the sky above her is dark. "Heh, I'll show him to underestimate the future Hokage, ch'no!"

With that, she hops into the hole, her stomach lurching as she falls fast down the hole and into darkness. She can't see anything anymore; she hears and feels the air whipping around her like tides carrying swimmers out to sea. The whole entire ordeal is completely disorienting. All that's left for her is wait until this crazy ride is over -

which happens way sooner then she expects. The last thing she feels is slamming hard on the ground with wind and pressure slamming down on her back, probably able to pulverize her insides - it feels that way, at least.

But when she opens her eyes, she sees a big blue sky and hears squawking of crows.

"... am I dead?"

She screams in pain, curling into a fetal position. Nope. Definitely not.

•

Compared to Hotaru, Sanada makes no progress either. Hotaru is obviously exhausted and his hits have become embarrassingly easy to dodge. Sanada is exhausted as well - she's panting and sweating, but she's not stopping or slowing. Not too much.

"It's funny how you think you're gonna kill anyone," Kakashi says casually, dodging chakra-infused shuriken. "I mean, what are you really good at? Taijutsu and big fireballs, that's it. The only way you're gonna defeat anyone is if they have a handicap and blind."

Despite her logical side seeing through Kakashi's taunts, the emotional side of her gets more and more annoyed. Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger. _Fire Release:_

Kakashi sighs. _I bet the little pyromaniac is doing a Fire Release jutsu._

 _Phoenix Sage Flower no Jutsu!_ She blows out fire and ignores the burns forming inside her mouth. Multiple, small fireballs scatter around the clearing. Kakashi already knows this jutsu. It's made to be a distraction, though bonus points if it actually hits.

Kakashi crouches low, slamming his palm on the ground as a earth wall protects him from the fire. When they're all blocked, he cancels the jutsu, but the girl is no longer around.

Where could the queen of hide and seek be ... ?

Uchiha Sanada feels faint from using so much chakra. Still, she manages to focus on her next plan, back pressed against a tree. She grabs her kunai and throws them at her sensei. Kakashi instinctively pulls out his kunai to deflect the girl's, but while he was doing so, Sanada has hit the peak of her arc and now falls, aiming kick right for his head.

There's a kunai in both hands and no time to drop them (he's not trying to actually kill her), so forming an X by crossing his wrists, he blocks her kick and knocks her up and over his head. Sanada lands on her feet behind him, stumbling.

Kakashi wisely puts the kunai back.

 _It didn't work. All I wanted to do was knock down his stupid hitai-ate over his other eye and grab the bell._ Sanada would like to growl in frustration but is panting too much. _Now what_?

 _Smart,_ the Jounin thinks. She's using strategy, rather than just trying to hit the target.

And Hotaru notices that, too. _He won't let her wake Monaka-chan up!_ Hotaru pants heavily, and disgracefully wipes his sweat off using his jacket sleeve. He glares at Kakashi who looks completely bored, dividing most of his attention to watching Sanada's fight.

He looks at the Kakashi near him who doesn't pay him any attention and Monaka's sleeping form. _Geez, I'm not that weak, you know!_ Hotaru dashes forward to attack the man.

Kakashi turns around. _What's that - ?_

He would try to defend himself, but the boy trips and falls face first on the grass.

The Jounin sweats. "That was anticlimactic, don't you think? Hotaru? Did you knock yourself out?" Kakashi nudges him with a toe. He doesn't budge. "H-Hotaru ... ?"

Meanwhile Sanada actually saw Hotaru faceplant and groans. _His cousin better be as strong as that wannabe princess said so._ She starts to turn back and resume the fight, and a _pained_ scream fills the clearing. The Uchiha thinks it's the Hyuuga - and he sounds like a girl for sure - but sees Monaka shift in her peripheral and dashes to her. "Monaka?!"

The redhead trembles where she lays. There's a defiant look in her eyes, as well. Sanada looks at her suspiciously. "Monaka, what happened? What'd he do to you?"

Monaka struggles to sit up. Every limb quivers with pain. "K-Kaka-sensei set me for f-failure," she grits through clenched teeth. "B-But I proved h-him wrong ... "

"Sure doesn't look like it," she mutters. _What did he do to her?_

"I did it to teach you a lesson," says the only Kakashi in the clearing. Sanada will never know which one was the clone. "You cannot get stronger if you continue to do the things you're weakest at. A _future Hokage_ like you should know this."

"You can't set me up for failure, ch'no!" She points at her sensei. "And ... I didn't run out of time - I willingly hopped into a hole to escape! That's the only way to win ... that dumb challenge, chunno!"

Kakashi's eye widen. _What?! She was willing to hurt herself to get out...? Unbelievably reckless ..._ "The purpose of it was to make you aware you cannot win if you do something you're bad at. What did you learn? Did you only jump because you felt inferior and wanted to prove a point, or did you realize you needed to find out another way out of something you're so awful in?"

Monaka shuts her eyes. "I ... I dunno. Both, I guess."

"It's fine. Just one conversation won't change anybody."

Sanada ... is completely lost, but also welcomes the break to catch her breath. "What are you talking about? How could you know what was in the genjutsu if you were here in reality fighting me?"

"I _made_ it, so I know what happens inside it. Well, the basics, not what Monaka did. It's like building a house but the person who decorates the inside of it - AKA Monaka - is something I don't know."

Sanada focuses her attention on the struggling redhead. "Can you still fight?"

She grins. "When can't I?"

"Good. Monaka, I need your help in tricking Kakashi for those bells. Can you do it?"

Monaka blinks. "Me? Working with you?! Our relationship _is_ increasing, chunno! I was worried cuz you suddenly got really cold, like the first day we met, remember?"

"Now's not the time to reminisce!" To distract the Jounin, the Uchiha reaches into Monaka's pocket and pulls out a familiar book. "Hey, Kakashi, looking for this?"

 _What_?! Kakashi hands immediately flies to his back pocket. _The book is still there! But one of them must be a fake -_

Sanada throws the book in the direction of the river. Kakashi impulsively goes after the book; the two run deeper into the forest.

•

"Just so you know," Monaka cheerfully adds as if she wasn't in pain just moments before, "we're still rivals. I'm gonna beat you one day, you know!"

Sanada runs just a bit faster than the redhead. "Of course we are. There's no way this is going to change that. _But_ , when we get those bells, you'll give one to me and Hotaru."

"What? Why?"

"Because you owe me one. I tried to save you despite the genjutsu being advanced." She stops in a shady area of the forest and Monaka follows her lead.

"But you didn't get me out; I did."

"I said I _tried._ That counts."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yes it does."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yes, it - _whatever_. Look, I've got a plan. You're bait. I'll put some wire around the trees and you, distracting him, will lead him to the wires so that my Fire Release can burn him up, _but_ I'll be hiding far away, so you grab the bells."

"Right." She looks around. "What wire?"

" _This_ wire." The Uchiha pulls out a roll of wire so thin it's difficult to see, and so thick it can handle the heat of her flames. "It's Uchiha wire; we use this to amplify our techniques. Hold this."

She hands Monaka the roll and Sanada grabs a string of wire. She wraps it around two trees in close proximity, then swiftly climbs up the tree to a high up tree branch. Monaka can't really see her; the dark blue meshes well in the low lighting, dark greens, and dark browns. "See, I'm hiding. And you're the bait."

"Cool! But, uh, what do I do with this wire, ch'no?" Monaka looks in Sanada's general direction.

"I don't know, hide it?"

"Alrighty then!" She shoves the wire inside her jacket pocket, on the orange half of her jacket. "Ready to go, I think!" She makes a single hand seal. " _Multi Shadow Clone no Jutsu_!"

•

Kakashi lunges for the book about to crash into the water like it's a bomb. The very edge of the binding nears the water; Kakashi slides on his stomach with his arm outstretched, trying in vain to reach the book in time, but the binding touch the water and stops.

Kakashi sighs. He just barely managed to grab the book. The Jounin gets to his feet while dusting himself off and observes the book he just saved. _Wait a second, this book is heavier than I remember._ He opens the book and reads a page.

 _The man took a shuddering breath. How did he not know his comrade like he thought he did? Perhaps he did, but refused to see the clues?_

 _ **Naruto ... do you think that we can kill Renge? Even if he didn't destroy Ton, he is a missing-nin, and our orders are to assassinate him. Do you think we can do that?**_

 _ **There has to be another way! I won't give up that hope!**_ _A rage burned inside him, not one of righteous fury, but of hopeful determination. "Chiisa, we need to find evidence he could possibly - "_

 _"Naru-chan, watch out!"_

 _This is_ not _Icha Icha Paradise,_ surmises the Jounin, snapping the foreign book shut. _I get the feeling that perverted book'll led me to my downfall ..._

"Hey-o, Kaka-chan! Yo, yo!"

He sees a little redhead blowing raspberries before she darts back into the forest. "Almost forgot. Those who use this book against me ... " His only visible eye sparkles with a white, ominous glow. " ... shall die."

•

Monaka scrambles to get away from her potential sensei. It certainly doesn't help that he pops her clones almost as soon as he sees one.

The clone bursts into the area where the real one is, gasping for breath. "He - He doesn't like it when you touch his book, chunno!"

"He's coming?!" Monaka says.

"And he's ma - " The clone pops before her eyes.

"NOOO!" Monaka drops to her knees. "SHE'S GONE!"

 _You little idiot,_ Sanada grumbles from her spot, eyebrow twitching. She brings the wire to her mouth.

The Jounin steps out a bush no worse for wear. "You must be the final Monaka, huh? You're doing well even though you're supposed to be in pain."

Monaka pales and pretends to act tough. "Imma fast healer, ya know. As for YOU! Gimme the bells or else!"

"Or else what?"

"Or else we'll take your, um ... " She searches for something important on Kakashi. "Your mask! Why do you wear one, anyway?! I don't even see lots of people wear one, ch'no!"

Kakashi narrows his eyes. " ... by the way, is this yours?" He tosses a book the redhead catches.

" _The Gutsy Ninja!_ Oh man!" She shoves in back into her pocket. "Sakura-sensei - I mean Sakura-chan woulda killed me if I lost it! Thanks!"

Kakashi wasn't doing her courtesy, so he's a little caught off guard. "Welcome?"

Monaka glances at the barely visible wire just behind her. "Okay, Kaka-sensei, you can hit me first! I'll let you get the first punch, c'mon! Fight me like a man!"

"You want _me_ to hit you?"

"I don't got all day, ch'no! C'mon!" She shut her eyes tightly and points to her face. "Run over here and fight me!"

Kakashi looks around. "What's your game plan? Why the sudden change?"

"Game plan? Pfft! You think I'm smart?! Look, hit me! That mask makes you look fat! Blue is not a good color for you! My grandma can read faster than you!"

He sighs. "Well, you asked for this ... "

Kakashi speeds toward the girl with a pulled back fist. Months of running away from Chuunin and Jounin has given her the speed to leap out the way of the punch, and Kakashi can't stop himself as he runs into the wire trap Sanada set.

Kakashi tries to pull away. "This is ... Uchiha wire, isn't it?"

"How do _you_ know?" Monaka mumbles.

Sanada smirks with the wire in her mouth as she flips through hand seals. _Fire Release: Fireball no Jutsu!_

Kakashi looks up to see fast-approaching fire glide down the wire heading straight for him. He lets out a startled cry.

Unable to escape, the fire engulfs him. He struggles for a bit before going slack. Monaka looks on, completely fascinated how fast the fire moves, but the flames soon fade out leaving their charred sensei.

"S-Sanada ... did you kill him?"

The Uchiha pants on her tree branch, chakra almost spent. "Go check," she mumbles with the wire still in her mouth.

Monaka frowns but obeys. She tugs on her sensei's burnt shirt. "Um ... are not dead? Kaka-sensei?" She tugs harder and _his head rolls off and falls in front of her feet -_

"OH MY GEEZ, SANADA! HE'S - !" Monaka stops as she looks at the head some more. " _Henohenomoheji_?" Hiragana characters make up his face instead of Hatake Kakashi's actual face. Completely puzzled, she starts to tug the rest of the "body" down.

Sanada perks up. "Monaka, what are you doing? You'll get yourself tangled in the wires! Grab the bells!"

"I don't think this is the real Kakashi-sensei at all!" Monaka carelessly digs through the wire.

"Monaka, quit it - !" She gets pulled forward.

Monaka slips up and gets herself stuck in the wires just like Sanada warned. "Sanada! I'm stuck!" She looks up to see Sanada falling toward her and can't do anything to stop her.

And Sanada can't do anything from chakra exhaustion. So the two collide into each other, but they both expected maybe a painful headbutt and nothing else.

They got the accidental headbutt. And an accidental _kiss._

Sanada falls to the ground, frozen in horror; Monaka struggles in the wire trap, yelling incomprehensible words.

Finally Kakashi steps out the shadow and shakes his head at the two. "You two and cooperation are on other sides of the world," sighs he, as he releases the clone that risked its life to become barbeque. The alarm goes off just as soon as he finishes. "Time's up."

•

All four of them group up a few steps away from the Memorial Stone. Sanada glares at the bells still tied to Kakashi's waist, Hotaru uses an ice cold can for the bump on his head and blushes in embarrassment, and Monaka is still tied up in the wires.

"You guys didn't get a bell," says their not-so potential sensei with aloofness. "And I even brought lunch in case you got hungry, too."

Mentioning that, their bellies growl. Monaka eyes the can Hotaru is using.

"Let's talk about what happened. Monaka has proved to be a reckless, useless girl who did absolutely nothing in getting the bells."

"WHAT?!" She struggles in the wire. "I helped Sanada with that trap!"

"If she didn't propose that plan, you would've resumed fighting alone like you did before the genjutsu."

Monaka grumbles.

"Hotaru probably could have grabbed a bell if he weren't focused on Monaka so much that he tripped over his own feet."

He turns red in the face.

"And Sanada is just a sorry excuse for a ninja wanting to do everything on her own and sacrifice others for her benefit."

Her fists tighten.

"There's no doubt you all have your moments, but your flaws greatly outweigh your meager strengths. How can you save anyone if you're too scared? How can you protect everyone if your recklessness constantly endagers them?"

"Ninja are assassins, nothing more, nothing less," Sanada says, to the surprise of the other two. "Why do I need to work with others when I can become strong by _myself_?" It's a question, but it doesn't sound like it.

"You know, I should send you back to the Academy the most," Kakashi states. "You're just a misguided idiot if you really believe all shinobi are simple killers."

In something oddly reminiscent of Monaka, Sanada gets to her feet ready to attack Kakashi. In something oddly reminiscent of Monaka, Kakashi easily takes care of her, pinning her to the ground and placing a kunai at her throat.

"Just a fool," he says. "Why become a ninja if you think they're only assassins? If you really believed that, you didn't need to become a shinobi at all; you don't need a degree to _kill someone_ , do you?"

Sanada struggles but to no avail. "Someone as misguided as you wouldn't think for a second of why we have you placed on teams of three. Did you think it was just a pretty number?"

"Woah, woah!" Monaka imagines herself making an X with her arms. "I dunno why we're on teams of three!"

"Yeah, but you're stupid. Nobody expects you to know anything."

"SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU, CH'NO!"

"What do you three think was the purpose of this exercise? Well?"

"Being an independent, effective shinobi," Sanada mumbles.

"Um, to see how strong we are?" Monaka says.

"T-Test our a-ability to care a-about our c-c-comrades?" Hotaru offers miserably.

He sighs. "The purpose of this exercise was _teamwork._ "

"Wh-Whaaa'?! Then how come you got two bells for three people - ?!" Monaka's brain catches up with her words. "YOU SET US UP FOR FAILURE, HUH?!"

"A ninja must see through deception." Kakashi lets Sanada go, the latter not getting up. "I purposely pitted you against each other - everything from the bells to the taunts. Genin can't ever defeat a Jounin alone - but working together might have helped get a bell. That's why there are squads. All of you should already know that whatever challenge you should face, even though you have individual skills, teamwork is the most important thing."

Kakashi eyes the silent three. "So now that I've explained things, I think it's reasonable to conclude none of you will become ninja. Konoha doesn't need a bunch of babies while there are more competent shinobi."

"No! You can't!" Monaka begs.

"W-We understand n-n-n-now ... !" Hotaru adds, close to tears.

Sanada contemplates quietly.

"Do you really?" He stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Understand that being a ninja isn't a game. You will be required to take missions and every mission you take, your lives are at stake. Petty things, delusions of grandeur, and being afraid to take action are one of many things that can lead to one or all of you dying. Sometimes your teammate is taken hostage. Sometimes you have to make choices, but a squad must know that by working together, they decrease death more than three solo ninja.

"If you would look over here, you'd see the names of great ninja." He walks toward a tall rock with names engraved into the stone. Many, many names. It is the Memorial Stone.

"Oooh! It's like the Hokage Mountain, but instead of faces there's names!" Monaka says, a little false cheer creeping in.

" ... right, these ninja are a special kind of hero. All the names of people I care about are all engraved on this stone."

 _But they're heroes, so why do you sound so upset?_ Monaka looks at her teammates. Hotaru rubs away a few tears and Sanada, who sat up, grits her teeth while staring at the stone. Even her sensei seems more gloomy than she thought possible.

It's almost as if a creepy, melancholy wave of energy settles over her team.

 _This reminds me when I used to sense negative energy when I was younger ..._ She gulps.

Sanada reads the names on the stone, searching for a name in particular. And she finds it. _Uchiha Shisui._ " _Damn it_ , it's true. This is the KIA rock."

"KIA?" Monaka looks for an answer.

"KIA m-means 'k ... killed in action' ... " Hotaru says. "M-My uncle i-is on there, t-too ... "

The redhead shrinks in on herself. " ... oh."

An uncomfortable silence passes by.

" ... I'll give you another shot." Kakashi turns to face the somewhat hopeful faces of his potential students. "But I'll make it harder. You three only have thirty minutes to grab at least a bell. Oh, and Monaka can't eat lunch. She was the absolute least helpful in collecting the bells, so she receives no lunch."

"Excuse me, ch'no?! _You_ put me in a genjutsu. How was I supposed to do anything?!"

"Honestly, it wasn't like you were going to get close to them anytime soon. Just had to make you feel productive, you know." He ignores her indignant cries. "If either of you feed her, all three of you will fail. Enjoy your lunch." He winks then flickers out the clearing.

•

Sanada and Hotaru proceed to eat their lunch, however slow.

Monaka tries to ignore them eating, but her growling stomach gives her away. "Look, I'm fine, okay?! Don't worry."

 _I really want to give her some food_ , Hotaru thinks. _But should I? We'll get in trouble, but I want to help her ..._

 _Kakashi wants us to use teamwork. Coincidentally, the Academy test wanted me to enlist for help ..._ Sanada grabs Hotaru's bentou and its top and slices both their lunches in half, placing it on his top. She slides the top to a bewildered redhead. "Here. Eat."

"You can't! We'll all get sent back!" She slides it back (with her _nose_ because nobody wants to help her out the wire apparently).

Sanada slides it back. "You little idiot, we're all exhausted and have bruises and chakra exhaustion, and if we're getting these bells, we can't have you being weak."

"Imma survivor! Seriously!" Her stomach growls again.

Hotaru smiles. "Th-That's not a good reason. I-I think you w-want to eat."

Monaka pouts, then chuckles. "Am I that predictable?"

"Completely." Sanada resumes eating her portion. "There's no chopsticks, so dump it into your mouth before Kakashi comes back."

"I would love to, but I'm still TIED UP. CAN ANYONE RELEASE ME, PLEASE?"

Hotaru sweatdrops. "I f-f-forgot! I'll h-help you, Monaka-chan!"

The sky suddenly turns _black_ and thunder _shakes_ the area. A huge puff of smoke appears in front of the three, and out the smoke is their sensei, livid.

" _You broke the rules_ ," he booms over the wind violently blowing the Genin. Hotaru is frightened, Sanada holds her ground, and Monaka eats her share before freaking out. "Why did you break the rules? Do you know what this _means_?"

Lightning crackles. " _Do you know what this means_?"

"Screw your rules," the Uchiha hisses. "If we didn't feed Monaka, she would hinder the team and the mission. I regret nothing."

Monaka nods furiously. "Yeah, yeah - we're a _team_ , chunno! It's all clear now! We're on these three-man squad for a good reason!"

Hotaru, feeling confident from his teammates, nods. "W-We're one!"

"That's it?" Kakashi roars. "That's your excuse? You're a _team_?"

"You bet the white of your hair we are!" Monaka grins.

" ... Oh. Well in that case, you pass."

Team 7 blinks. The scary weather easily fades away.

"Sorry, didn't catch that last part," Monaka says.

Kakashi smiles. "You pass. All the others fell right into my trap unable to think for themselves, but you surpassed that urge and showed teamwork. And though it needs a lot, _lot_ more work, I _think_ we can actually become a team. Maybe."

Monaka rolls and giggles, Hotaru smiles and claps, and Sanada allows herself a small smirk before she hides it by eating.

"It's true that those who break the rules are scum," he says, watching the sky wistfully, "but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. Tomorrow, Team 7 starts their first mission - hope to see all of you there." He gives them a big thumbs up.

"WAIT!" They all stare at Monaka. "I don't mean to interrupt, but CAN YOU PLEASE UNTIE ME, CH'NO?!"

"Fine." Sanada flicks her kunai out and cuts the wire.

Monaka stands up and stretches. "Thanks! But, uh, why didn't ya do that earlier?"

Sanada _glares_ , her eyes shining white like beacons. "Need I remind the _thing that must not be spoken_?"

Monaka flinches badly. "W-Wait, you mean that _kiss_?"

There's a beat of silence. After that beat, Sanada roars, ready to tackle Monaka; Monaka yelps and gets ready to run away; Hotaru faints _because somehow his teammates kissed_ ; Kakashi watches them all with a huge groan.

•

"I see. Quite unusual."

"'Quiet unusual' my _butt_ , it's the greatest story ever!" Monaka adjusts her hitai-ate. "I think I have the absolute bestest ninja origin, eh, eh, old man?!"

The Third Hokage nods with a small smile. "Perhaps you do."

"By the way, I'm really am sorry I acted like a big jerk with all those pranks," she says much more meekly. "I _know_ now I did it for attention, but now I don't needa!" She winks. "I've got my own team to annoy!"

"I accept your apology." _She seems to have matured much faster than I expected._ "Monaka, I need to ask you about the Ky - "

"Hold that thought, old man, Imma celebrate with some ramen along my new Team 7." She chuckles mischievously. "It took lots of convincing to get those guys to get ramen!" She heads to the open window in his office and waves. "See ya tomorrow, old man!"

He waves back, chuckling after she leaves. _She will probably become one of the weirdest ninja of Konoha_ , the Third thinks, putting his pipe in his mouth. _But sometimes, weirdness can be a good thing_.

The Third's brief moment of contemplation ends when he hears a knock on his office doors. "Come in."

"Excuse me for bothering you, Hokage-sama." Out the doors is an old man with a bandage on his head covering his eye, and a bandaged arm he places inside his kimono like a sling.

For some reason, the Hokage tenses. "Good evening, Danzou."

Shimura Danzou takes another step into his office using his cane before bowing. "Good evening. Now, Hokage-sama, I heard the village jinchuuriki became a shinobi. I'm all for her being able to protect herself amongst that threat from years back, but I do not understand why we couldn't just keep her in Konoha where it is _safe_. Once she leaves Konoha, who knows what could happen to her?"

"She is among Kakashi. Remember how you wanted to apprentice him as a young boy? She will be protected."

"Kakashi has grown old and much more docile," Danzou says with quick words as if they could erase the Hokage's words. "And he is a simple man prone to error. Why not give her to me? She'll never leave Konoha, but she will become strong and be surrounded by plenty of strong shinobi."

"You want her to join ANBU, because Root was banished a long time ago, right?" The Hokage observes his old friend suspiciously under the shadow of his hat.

"Yes, yes." He almost rolls his eyes. "By the way, we spoke to Mitsuki - the one who tried to kill the jinchuuriki and Umino Iruka. He had mentioned something about the Snake Sannin ... "

The Hokage gasps. "His presence is _still_ within Konoha. _How_?"

"We may not ever know, but I have a plan. We can use the jinchuuriki as bait for one of his experiments and stop him from the inside."

"Maybe that may work, but seven years ago, we caught him working for Kumo to create a being with a combined Byakugan, a Hyuuga body, and a Sharingan. He wants to learn _all jutsu,_ not that - that - whatever it is. I can only assume there's a traitor from inside Konoha filling his mind with these ideas ... "

"And I, Hokage-sama, only wish for the best of Konoha when I say I want the jinchuuriki." Danzou smiles to console his anxious friend. "You've grown too attached to the girl, Hiruzen. She is a jinchuuriki - a tool to the village and nothing more. You must realize nobody in the world sees her as nothing but a tool."

The Third Hokage looks out his window to the moonless night. _Fourth Hokage ... forgive me._

•

Kakashi hops off the roof and into an alley, casually strolling up to his new team standing in front of Ichiraku Ramen. "Hey!"

"You're late!" Monaka and Sanada say.

"Sorry. See, I saw this kitten stuck in a tree, and being the noble person I am, I rescued it and returned it to its owner."

Sanada scoffs and the redhead fumes.

"W-Was it a cute kitten?" Hotaru smiles. "I l-love animals! Cats, dogs, b-birds - they're all a-amazing!"

"Uhhh ... yeah, cute kitten. With big eyes and ears that curl over."

"I hate cats! For some reason, cats hate my gut, ch'no!"

"Aren't you like a cat?" Sanada says.

"Am not! I am a fierce lioness!"

"Yeah, only to ants."

The four head inside to enjoy their first meal together.

•

 **Post A/N: I should really stop doing this because I don't think anyone reads these, but I've got no other way of communication, so I'm sorry for this rant-thing again! I just wanted to clarify a few points that I feel like I won't be able to answer immediately in the story, as these chapters take a while because I'm a wannabe perfectionist like that.**

 **Number One: October 14th. In the first chapter, I said the Kyuubi attacked on Oct 14th. That's not a typo. Monaka is born on Oct 10th and the Kyuubi attacks four days later. Why? It's a huge secret because plot reasons, but just know Monaka was with her family for four days before they died.**

 **Number Two: Obito. In this timeline, the boy named Obito survived up until the Uchiha Massacre. Why did he survive? Super secret plot reasons, but once the Akatsuki make their cameos (besides Itachi and Kisame) eventually, it will all make sense...or will it?**

 **Number Three: The Yondaime was Hokage for only 5 years. This timeline isn't unrecognizable from the original timeline, but there are differences. The first major difference is the Bushi-Nin War, or the war of the Samurai and Shinobi. The second is that there's a five-year gap between the 3rd War and the Fourth's death. The reasons why...can't tell, because spoilers.**

 **Number Four: These guys graduated 2 years early. Why? I made a reason in story that they were all sick of this new Monaka, but actually I let them graduate two years earlier because I want a bond between Team 7 form. Many felt as though Naruto and Sasuke's bond was very illogical due to the short period of time they were together. So I thought two years plus the original timeline of Naruto would make their bond more real.**

 **Number Five: "Madara, the Aizen of Naruto." (** _ **Since when were you aware you weren't under my genjutsu**_ **...?) Jokes aside, you should know Madara was apart of the Distinguished Trio (totally crappy name, but eh) that helped stop the Bushi-Nin war and gave shinobi power. Is Madara evil in this timeline because of that? Well, no, not necessarily. In this story, he doesn't effect the plot by kidnapping Obito and (spoiler?) Rin, but he does do other stuff while alive. Just know he's not the main bad guy - in fact, I've got three people in mind who are, and all but one of them have been properly introduced.**

 **Number Six: Why did I change the universe? Two reasons...one, I changed the history of pre-shinobi AKA the Ootsutsuki, just so it makes more sense and not be a huge plot hole as it is. Two, I just wanted to include samurai, because they exist but play little to no role. I changed it so that there'd be a reason that samurai don't do much. Finally, I also changed Kishimoto's timeline a little bit so that it makes more sense, and so some of the plot holes can be answered, but I know there's bound to be one with this complex world.**

 **Bonus: Why the Sakura and Hinata/Hotaru switch? They're just funnier that way. Team 7 and 8 fit these comedic tropes: Wacky Idiot, Cynical Normal, and Naive Neutral. Both Sakura and Sasuke fit the cynical type, and Hotaru and Shino (he's not overly naive, though) are the neutral. In my opinion, these three types are hilarious when put together. There's the wacky idiot that finds the funny in everything and sometimes ropes the naive neutral into their antics even though they try to remain neutral, while the cynical tries to get the neutral to fight back as well as scolding the idiot.**

 **I really suck at the humor of normal Team 7, because Sakura and Sasuke always respond the same (hitting or scolding Naruto), but the new one is more interesting. That said, I won't throw Sakura to the sidelines, oh no. She's a good character, but she needs a good writer.**

 **If you read all that, you're an awesome person! If you only read the story, thank you, because now SOHL has over 1,000 views (or loads, to be more accurate) - that means about a 1,000 people know a wacky story like this exists!**


	7. Episode 7, Genin Days Arc 4

_"From now on, we're Team 7 - got it, chunno?!"_

 _Monaka's teammates lay beside her in a circle, with their heads just barely touching each other in the middle. Monaka grins, and her whisker-like birthmarks make her seem so much more mischievous than she feels. On her right is Uchiha Sanada who allows herself a small smile now that her teammates can't clearly see her expression. Hyuuga Hotaru's head is within the gap between the two girls' heads, smiling with brightness, yet still meek-looking._

 _"This is gonna be so much fun!" Monaka shouts, stretching her arms wide which hits the Uchiha, though with a mildly annoyed frown, she doesn't mind. "We're gonna get stronger together, and I'll become Hokage! What're you guy's goals, chunno?"_

 _Sanada closes her eyes. "I already told you - "_

 _"I know, I know, but once you, uh, accomplish that, what'll be your future goals?"_

 _"Rebuild my clan, obviously."_

 _"No, no, you grumpy octopus - don't you wanna become some kind of leader?"_

 _" ... the leader of my clan. And who are you calling a 'grumpy octopus?'"_

 _"Okay, BESIDES that, Hotaru-chan, what do you wanna do?"_

 _Hotaru's cheeks turn pink. "W-Well, obviously w-watch Hanabi-chan be-become clan head ... "_

 _"No, I just told you we aren't letting that happen, ch'no! YOU are gonna become leader, Sanada 'n' me are going to help you become so strong, they have no choice but to let you lead, got it?!"_

 _The Hyuuga brushes away tears. "Th-That's a really t-tough promise ... "_

 _"I won't be so tough if we're all working together, ch'no!"_

 _Sanada crosses her arms over her chest. "Why are you so positive about all this? Don't you feel a little bit skeptic about what's going to happen?"_

 _Monaka deadpans. "For one, I dunno what 'septic' means, and two, anything's possible cuz I'm gonna work hard enough so that it happens. I mean, I worked hard and now I'm a ninja. Becoming strong as team can't be that much harder, right?"_

•

 **SHINOBI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

 **Genin Days Arc**

 **Episode 7**

 **Mission Number One: Training!**

 **Synopsis** _: Kakashi decides to train his young Genin. Their first task: walk up a tree with no hands!_

 _A/N: Dunno if I mentioned this, but "monaka" is a yummy treat, "sanada" is a name that's still connected to "sasuke," and "hotaru" is an alliteration and means "firefly." And I know it begins with a fire kanji instead of day kanji, I explained that earlier. I just didn't want "Naruko, Sasuhime, and Hinasuke," or something weird like that. Also, been playing_ _ **Sengoku Basara**_ _. Favorite character has to be either Sanada Yukimura because he's silly, or the"One Eyed Dragon." Page break is still glitchy -_-_

 **April, 45 years NE**

 **Monaka: 10 years, 6 months**

 **Rewrote/Posted: 22 June, 2016**

•

 _I'm a niiinja, I'm a niiinja! One more step away from Hokage!_

Monaka starts to pour milk in her ramen noodles as a sort of breakfast meal - at least it tastes marginally better than _natto_ \- but stops when she irritatingly remembers an argument with Sanada back in Academy.

 **"Move outta the way, frowny face!" Monaka hollers at the Uchiha calmly waiting to use the bathroom.**

 **Sanada sighs. "So you exist. Haven't seen you in a week."**

 **"Well, I'm in 'in school suspension,' so I get grounded in school."**

 **"Fine."**

 **Monaka shuts her eyes tight and waits for the Uchiha to move, which she does not. "MOVE OUT THE WAY!"**

 **"What's the rush?" Sanada doesn't look the slightest bit intimidated.**

 **"I NEEDA USE IT!"**

 **Now the Uchiha smirks. "Been drinking milk, haven't we? When will you learn to check if the milk is spoiled?"**

 **"SHUDDUUUP!"**

 **"Or even better - use your tastebuds."**

 **"SERIOUSLY, SHUDDUP, chunno!"**

Monaka shivered. She would _not_ like to go on a mission with an upset tummy. Monaka carelessly tosses the bowl of ramen and milk outside her window, oblivious to the startled shrieks outside as she figures out another treat to eat.

•

Sanada looks over the railing on the small, red bridge connecting two lands separated by a small stream. The Hyuuga stands beside her, looking both ways for any new faces.

"Hey, princess," Sanada says to catch Hotaru's attention. "They're both late. Do you think Monaka would be late for our first mission? I don't."

" ... m-maybe she's nervous precisely b-because it's our first m-mission," he replies, playing with the jacket's sleeves.

Sanada frowns. "Yeah, that makes sense. It's obvious her cheerfulness is just a mask."

"Wh-What? No! She truly i-is happy!" Hotaru finally looks Sanada in the eye, startling the Uchiha a bit. "Despite all her d-difficulties, she still remains h-happy! Why would she f-fake that?!"

 _I forgot he cares about her a whole bunch._ " ... right, Hotaru. She probably fakes it until she makes it. Like a king pretending to act kingly until it comes natural."

Hotaru's expression relaxes. "Oh, I d-do that sometimes. I-It takes a lot of c-confidence to f-fake something, though ... " He laughs a little and stares at his feet like normal.

Sanada stares at him with an arched eyebrow. _No, you're just a scaredy cat._

"Good morning, my students."

Kakashi pops into existence in a cloud of smoke. He takes a quick headcount. "Where's Monaka?"

"Late, like you," Sanada says. "I can't believe she's more late than you."

"Huh, that's kinda weird, unless she got lost, or something." Kakashi smiles with his one visible eye. "Well, Sensei is off to find her! Stay here - this shouldn't take long." With that, he Body Flickers away.

•

Only ten minutes later, and Monaka is out her apartment and down the apartment steps to start her new day of being a Genin! Monaka doesn't really understand what a "Genin" is, but she knows it means you're a ninja, and that's all that counts. She's a little late - an hour late - but her sensei is late, too.

Monaka's smile starts to fade. Not consciously, but she feels like a thousand glares are aimed her at direction, more intense than she's ever felt. The shopping district she walks through has plenty of people working in their respective booths but not so many customers this early in the morning. Most are worked by old, old people and sometimes their offspring.

All those people glare at Monaka, their eyes staring at the hitai-ate proudly sitting on her forehead.

But the amount of _hate_ they're giving sends chills up her spine. Monaka stops moving.

"She's a shinobi now ... " murmurs old man Date who makes scrolls, breaking the tense silence.

"Unbelievable! A girl _like her_ is a shinobi?! Does the Third _want_ to kill us faster?!" cries a plump lady.

"No way. That little brat killed so many shinobi and know _she's one herself_?!" snarls Kojura, a young man. "I can feel my father rolling in his grave!"

Monaka reels backwards at their intense hate. _She'd rather feel hate than the intense coldness ..._ No, this is _not_ what she meant. This is nowhere near her idea.

And they must be rambling about the Kyuubi within her. Monaka almost forgot about that part. _You're holding a murderer inside you._

Even though she's a shinobi surrounded by civilians, she doesn't feel strong at all. Why? How could she not - ?

"Maybe she'll just go die on a mission and we'll be through with her," adds a woman who brushes her long, thick hair.

"The Hokage wouldn't like that!" cries a young girl who probably hit adulthood last year. "L-Let's ignore her as usual, okay guys?"

"I'm _tired_ of the brat's _disrespectful attitude_ and _stupid pranks_ ," Kojura says. His hate is like an incinerator. "I'm not going to take it anymore!"

Monaka watches as Kojura stalks towards her with a raised fist. Fear paralyzes her, as well as her negative energy sensing that decided to return after all these years. She shuts her eyes and covers her face, but one hit from him sends her sprawling to the ground.

The marketplace is now silent, save for Kojura's heavy breathing.

"You hit the girl," Date mumbles. "That - "

"Hokage-sama can't stop us!" yells another merchant. "He has to still be sleeping."

Another merchant slides over the table in his booth. "Hey, hey, I want a hit, too! For my dead and pregnant mother!"

"For leaving my nephew as homeless and orphan!" shouts another.

"You destroyed my house! For seven years I couldn't buy another!"

"You destroyed a food market! Do you know how many people died of _starvation_?!"

"She threw ramen and milk and me! _Who eats ramen and milk_?!"

The merchants pause and stare at the man who spoke that sentence impressively. He looks at all their expressions. "What? That's a totally legitimate thing to say!"

"I'm sick of treatin' the brat like she's one of us!"

"My, my," drawls the woman still brushing her hair. "Don't lose yourself to your hatred."

A crowd of merchants surround Monaka, who keeps any vital areas covered as they kick her body on the ground. The young woman who spoke earlier tries to pull the men and courageous women away from the fight. "Please leave her alone! This won't solve anything!"

"I don't care _what_ it solves! I'm angry and I had to hide it for a decade, but _no longer_!" The merchants shout in agreement.

Monaka hears their conversations as she tries to hide. _These guys hate me. They really hate me. Even though my eyes are closed, I can still see their hatred ..._ And the only reason this happens to her now is because she was nowhere near this place before the street was filled with customers. The first morning she got her forehead protector from Iruka in Ichiraku, then she left before dawn for Kakashi's bell test the next morning.

 _I'm a ninja now and all I'm doing is hiding like a coward. I'm NOT a coward! Didn't I say that I'm not weak? So why am I hiding here like a big baby, ch'no?!_

She tightens her fists so much that they shake. _I'm not ... I'm not scared!_ But she is scared. _This isn't like me not to fight back!_ She still can't will her body to move even after all the bruises she's beginning to get. She feels ... hopeless.

 **Hopelessness won't work** , booms an internal voice. **Anger will. Anger will help you. Just for a moment, get angry.**

Anger? That's easy. She's angry at herself for being such a coward. A Hokage protects Konoha, right? So why is she sitting here not acting like a heroic protector? She's a big _hypocrite._ A big fat liar.

 _Enough! I am_ not _weak!_ Monaka grits her teeth and pulls herself up on her hands and knees. The merchants who were kicking her start to back away. Finally she rises on one knee.

"Hey, listen, ya big dummies!" she shouts, staring at all the wary merchants. The orange tint to her goggles almost hides her tears. "I'm gonna be Hokage, chunno! I'm gonna give my life protecting Konoha as the Fourth did for me! So if you hate me, then get all of your hate outta you right now, cuz I'm gonna be protecting all you guys one day!"

The crowd silences, watching her with wide eyes. Eventually Kojura starts laughing and more and more following in, with the young girl pouting at their attitudes.

 _They're laughing at me ..._ But her sadness turns into anger. "You'll see! You'll see that I'm a hero!" They don't quit their laughter. So she runs out of the crowd and down the streets with her eyes closed tight to prevent anymore tears from falling. She's too strong to cry! She pulls up her goggles and wipes away the wetness on her face.

 _I'm not weak, I'm not weak. I'm not weak enough to be bullied, and I'm not weak enough to cry, ch'no!_

She keeps repeating this until she runs into someone.

Well ... that was bound to happen running blindly like that.

She looks up to see who she hit, putting back on her goggles.

"Monaka?" It's her new sensei, Hatake Kakashi. Even with one eye visible, he looks concerned. "Are you ... crying? Did something happen?"

The little redhead can't really see Kakashi's expression with the sun behind him and all. She sniffles. "I'm fine, cuz I'm strong! And what're you doing here, Kaka-sensei?"

Kakashi looks around. _Funny she ran to the playground._ "Looking for you. You didn't get lost, did ya?"

Monaka flashes him the brightest grin she can do. "Nope! Now let's begin our first mission! I hope it's super dangerous!" Monaka races off to the meeting point without Kakashi.

Meanwhile, the Jounin looks at the way Monaka came. It's the path to her apartment. He knows because he's walked down this path many, many times before.

 _And the playground isn't too far from the apartment, so something must've happened as soon as she left._ He turns and strolls back, the empty playground that should be filled with children unnerving him slightly.

•

Monaka races up to her new teammates, waving. "Hiya, guys! Anyone excited for a cool day?" she smiles.

Hotaru immediately brightens. "Good morning, Monaka-chan!"

Sanada gives him a look. That's the most she's ever heard from him not stuttering. Then she observes Monaka. "Why are you so bruised up?"

"Huh?" Monaka observes her hands. They are bruised. "Ah, just a training accident is all!"

"Why do they look so recent?" Sanada says, but Hotaru accidentally speaks over her.

"I have s-some o-ointment for those br-bruises, if you wa ... want to u-use it ... "

"No thanks, I'll be fine." Monaka smiles again before their sensei arrives.

"Now that we're all here," Kakashi says, "let's head to Training Ground Two. I'll lead the way."

Monaka follows right behind Kakashi. Hotaru starts to jog and catch up, but Sanada catches his arm. "Hotaru."

The Hyuuga walks alongside her. There's a wide gap between them and their sensei.

"Hotaru, didn't Monaka always boast that she healed fast?" Sanada says. "Remember yesterday? She got hit hard with the Magen, but recovered almost immediately?"

Hotaru gasps and covers his mouth.

"Soon those bruises will fade, but they didn't because they're too new. So she was late because of something that injured her. I don't think it was training since she doesn't look exhausted."

"I f-forgot about that ... " Hotaru hugs himself. "I-I-I was so h-happy to see her o-okay ... "

"Because bruises equates to being okay, Hotaru?"

"N-No, because d-despite that, she was sm-smiling ... "

Sanada closes her eyes in brief thought. "For someone so obsessed with Monaka, you sure don't know a lot about her, do you?"

"W-We're on the same team n-now," Hotaru replies with some degree of confidence. "I'm-I'm going to l-learn more about her."

Sanada looks at him thoughtfully before she silently puts her hands in her pockets and jogs to catch up, surprising Hotaru who runs himself.

•

Kakashi stops in front of a small forest. "See how tall those trees are? Amazing, really."

Monaka shuts her eyes. "Are we seriously gonna be watching trees all day, Kaka-sensei?"

"No, no, it's a sort of icebreaker to the real lesson," he replies, "like, you know, a good transition."

"Well get to the point! I'm here for excitement, not 'transitions.'"

"Okay, okay. You guys are ten. You're young and reckless and - frankly - not very strong. What I am about to show you is the ultimate jutsu. If you cannot master this jutsu, you cannot master _any_ other jutsu." Kakashi gestures to the tree he stands the closest to. "You may have heard of the leaf exercise. This takes it step further and is more effective. It's also a lot more difficult. You could say that in order to learn this jutsu, you have to put your life on the line."

Monaka's eyes sparkle. "Ooooh, so what is it, what is it?"

"It's a chakra control exercise. Probably the _only_ exciting chakra control exercise."

Sanada tries to see the connection to the leaf exercise and the trees, because they must be important somehow. "Chakra control?"

"Me and Sakura-sen - I mean, Sakura-chan worked on that for three days, ch'no! I stuck coins on my head," Monaka adds. "It's the ability to not waste unnecessary chakra using techniques."

"I know that already," Sanada says. "How does that apply to the trees?"

"Simple," their sensei says. "You're going to climb this tree without using your hands."

"Cool! Are we gonna fly?!" Monaka bounces.

"Not everyone can be a Tsuchikage," Kakashi mumbles.

"Huh?"

"I said, you're going to mold chakra to your soles on your feet and stick yourself on a tree." Kakashi adjusts his slanted hitai-ate. "You _do_ know what molding is, right?"

Monaka frowns. "Something about ... spiritual and physical energy mixing - my memory gets fuzzy at that point."

"Good, you're not acting as stupid as usual." Kakashi smiles with his eye.

Her cheeks turn red. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT TO YOUR STUDENTS!"

"Anyways," he belatedly says. "You all understand the rules right? Mold your chakra. Spiritual energy grows the more you use your mind. Physical energy grows the more you move. It's also called Yin and Yang chakra respectively. Concentrate that chakra to the soles of your feet - one of the most difficult places - and stick your self to the tree. I'll demonstrate."

The Jounin makes a hand seal, not to begin a jutsu, but as concentration. The grass closest to him rustle like a wind blows it. Then he turns around and plants a foot on the tree bark, then the next, completely naturally, as if he wasn't walking vertically.

All the Genin watch in awe as he calmly walks on a branch upside down. "See? Look easy?"

Monaka grins. "I can't wait to do this! This is gonna help me with my pranks unlike those dumb clotheslines, ch'no!"

Sanada closes her slightly agape mouth.

Hotaru smiles. _Okay, this doesn't seem too tough, Hotaru!_

Kakashi reaches in his pocket upside down and catches three falling kunai while letting the rest fall to the ground. "Track your progress with these kunai. Your goal is to get to the top." Kakashi throws the kunai less than a meter away from his students; the blade is buried in the ground. "Since you guys are new, you may need a running start."

They grab the kunai (Monaka first) and close their eyes in unison, concentrating on their chakra flowing within them.

Hotaru has very timid chakra. It's part of the reasons why his Gentle First and any other ninjutsu he uses tend to be weaker than average. But he easily guides the chakra to his feet.

Sanada's chakra is very cold and sharp like lightning. She gets her chakra circulating near her feet, but has to stop herself from putting in too much.

Monaka's chakra is bright with a hidden darkness on the inside. It's very, very plentiful. But just like the genjutsu from yesterday, she fails to get her chakra to move. In fact, it likes to do the exact opposite of what she commands, but some chakra starts to circulate in her feet, so she opens her eyes and runs for her tree.

Kakashi watched them all with his hitai-ate off his hidden eye, but places it back on once Monaka makes her move.

The redhead takes one, two, three steps before she crashes into the forest ground, grabbing her head.

Sanada doesn't realize Monaka's attempt, but begins her own. She races up her tree, passing the three-step high score, and her body starts reacting as if she's running up a hill. When she can take it no longer, she gives one strong urge in her chakra to _keep her foot on the tree_ , the bark cracks. Before she loses her balance, she marks her location and back flips off the tree.

 _Definitely tougher than it looks._ Sanada observes Monaka's position. _She didn't get really high. So it seems too much chakra cracks the tree, but too little makes you fall off._ She sighs and starts to continue but she notices Hotaru hasn't gone yet.

 _You can do this, Hotaru! Focus, it's like learning the Gentle Fist, only with your feet._ Finally feeling confident in his abilities, Hotaru runs up his tree, going higher and higher, until the tree becomes too thin to walk on. He rests on the next biggest branch.

"Th-That's as far as I can go, Kakashi-sensei," Hotaru says, slightly out of breath. Then he looks down.

He's way higher than Kakashi who still hangs upside down like a bat. _Sanada-chan and Monaka-chan haven't made it up here yet?_

"Good job, Hotaru," Kakashi says. "Seems like the Hyuuga Clan _is_ the best clan in Konoha."

Sanada glares at her mark, only halfway of Kakashi's distance. Monaka gets to her feet still rubbing her head.

"O-Oh no, Sensei, it's not really f-fair because I l-l-learned this already ... "

"Then you can move on to the next phase," Kakashi replies cheerfully.

"Next ph-phase?"

Sanada starts to climb her tree again; Monaka peers at the two curiously.

"Yup. Hop off the tree and follow me."

 _Next phase. Next phase, huh. Then I needa master this now, so I can beat Sanada -_

A light thump beside her breaks her from her thoughts. It's a slightly out-of-breath Uchiha who scowls at her line in the tree. Monaka looks at it and makes a cry of distress.

"Sanada, that's WAY higher than mine!" Monaka looks at her measly pace and Sanada's awesome pace.

The Uchiha doesn't seem to be pleased at all. "Quit talking and work."

"How'd you do it? How'd you get so high, ch'no?"

"Try it more than once before asking me." To end the conversation, she scales back up the tree.

"Meanie ... " Monaka makes her hand seal and prepares her nigh uncontrollable chakra.

•

By noon, all the Genin are exhausted. Monaka's tree climbing hasn't made much improvement, and while Sanada is already ahead of Monaka, she still hasn't made much progress. Hotaru has been practicing chakra control to walk on the surface of _water_ , but neither girl had listened to Kakashi explanation on how to do it. It's fine, anyway - Hotaru is covered in water and fails to make much progress.

Kakashi observes his bruised Genin and says, "Don't go too far. Rest is just as important as practice. As a rest, we're going to do a few missions."

Monaka bounces back up. "Is it gonna be _dangerous_?"

"Hopefully not. Why do you want it to be dangerous?"

"Cuz it's more fun, chunno."

Sanada rolls her eyes. "Being a ninja isn't _fun_. You just don't go around and do dangerous missions all day. People die everyday."

The redhead grimaces. "You're lying, aren't you?"

"W-W-Wait, you two," Hotaru mumbles, magically appearing between the two of them. "Let's go d-do a mission. M-Maybe you might like it?"

The redhead thinks about it. " ... fine. It better be fun, Kaka-sensei!"

Kakashi smiles with his eye. "No promises."

•

The short girl crosses her arms over her chest and carelessly shouts: "Exactly WHAT is a D-Rank mission, ch'no?!"

The Third Hokage sighs. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to let her graduate with her knowing so little of how Konoha worked. He smokes on his pipe as he says, "Missions are assigned by difficulty. It is so that any underqualified would not take missions out of their league.

"In Konoha, and in all of the Five Nations, the basic five categories are given. The Genin is the lowest rank, an entry level shinobi. The security access of a Genin is equivalent to a toddler in a house filled with child locks. The very next rank is Chuunin. Once you are Chuunin, you are qualified to lead your own squads and your security access is equivalent to a teacher working in a school facility.

"Then there is the special Jounin. This is a Chuunin with up to two Jounin-level areas. This equivalent to a counselor of a school - "

"What's a _counselor_ got anything to do with missions?!" Monaka blurts out. In response, Kakashi hits her head.

"Don't be rude," he scolds. "What Hokage-sama means is that a counselor has access to many students. However, a special Jounin isn't defined by how many people they know, rather just how much a school allows the counselor to have that ability, the Hokage gives that ability to special Jounin."

Monaka rubs her head. "I still don't geddit."

"It's like this," the Uchiha sighs. "They get more information than Chuunin ever thought possible. It's not too different from a teacher, but it's a step up."

"Oh. I kinda get it now ... "

"Good." Kakashi hits her one more time. "That's for making us wait on you."

"Kaka-sensei!" The redhead can determine if he's joking or not.

The Hokage waits for the children to get quiet. "The next is Jounin, a very uncommon rank. They have the access level of an office receptionist. Which means receptionists have access to change, delete, and-or add information, not to work in the limits of simply students with the counselor. Finally, the Hokage is the one watches over the school as a whole."

"You mean a principal," Sanada says, slightly caught off-guard.

"No," he smiles. "A principal rules the school. What truly rules the school - or village - is the next generation. You all."

Sanada blocks any expression from her face. Hotaru hangs his head while blushing. Monaka scratches her head. "What's this got to do with missions, chunno?" she says quietly.

"Genin can only preform D-Rank and C-Rank if they have a Jounin or special Jounin leader. Chuunin can preform D-Rank and C-Rank whenever they're ready. Special Jounin can preform B-Ranks, C, and Ds. Jounin can preform A-Ranks, Bs, Cs, and Ds."

"And ... " adds the the redhead, "what do we ... _do_ on D-Ranks?"

•

Farmer Nagoya welcomes the newcomers - a batch of Genin shinobi and their leader - who soon poofs away afterwards after they shared small talk. Though they look pretty scrawny. He's willing to pay for some help after his wife caught chicken pox and has never been at her full health since then. It was likely due to their 56th anniversary - they're no longer the young and carefree teens they were.

The girl with the pitch white eyes looks too delicate for fieldwork and assigns her kitchen assistance; the scary girl with a cold glare isn't too thin-looking, and he assigns her with cleaning out the pig pen. Then the girl who's shorter than the rest and the weakest-looking of them all was supposed to clean up around the house, but the brat's top annoying for her own good. _I wanna leave Konoha! I hate farming! This isn't a mission!_ So he gives her the task of collecting the eggs from the hens.

"Naya-chan," says his wife - Aiyo - through the kitchen window. "Did you _really_ have to give the runt the hens? That's a lil cruel."

Nagoya quits raking and smirks. "Oi, with that dyed red hair of hers, be lucky I didn't assign her to the bulls." He laughs.

The hen pin is kept purposely away from most animals, and is in front of the rooster pin. Dozens of hens lay eggs and enjoy fresh, organic food -

"AHHHHHH!"

Monaka falls backwards to the floor, her recently got egg splattering right next to her. She stares at the yolk in horror.

"I KILLED THE CHICKEN!" she roars, gripping the sides of her hair.

She looks at the hens divided into three floors (and the third floor is much taller than her) and pales when it feels like all of them stare at her in shame.

"This - This - This IS YOU GUY'S FAULT, CHUNNO!" she shouts with a unnaturally high and tight voice. "If you'd just LET me grab an EGG, WE WOULDN'T BE IN THIS MESS!"

The hens continue to stare at her, _silently judging her for sins -_

Monaka shakes her head and takes deep breaths. "Calm down. All you need are these guy's eggs. Okay, you're the apple predator!" She puffs out her chest despite not even knowing what that truly meant, but it sounds coop. "Alright, GIMME YOUR EGGS CHICK'N!"

•

Kakashi returns to collect his students around six. He walks with his nose deep in his orange book, and his feet guide him to Nagoya's house.

"Did these three do a good job today?" Kakashi says to Nagoya before he sees his students.

"The white-eyed girl did very good today, the scary girl was plenty helpful, and Monaka ... results are _mixed_ for her," Nagoya surmises, dragging Kakashi to where his students wait.

 _Farmer Nagoya seems to be really awful with names despite us introducing ourselves twice. But he remembered Monaka of all people?_ The farmer stops, and Kakashi looks at his students sitting on logs.

Kakashi sees a happy-looking Hotaru with a small basket of food, Sanada glaring at him with dirt everywhere on her face, and the pouting Monaka with shut-tight eyes plus bruises and feathers everywhere on her. A quick glance at her might've seemed like she was wearing a tribal headdress.

"Monaka," the Jounin says hesitantly. "Why do you have so many fea - ?"

"Don't ask," she mumbles.

"The hens," Sanada says with a smirk.

Monaka scowls at her. "I said NOT TO SPEAK OF THIS!"

"Oh yeah? Well, remember yesterday when I _said the exact same thing_ , and you completely ignored that?"

"The difference between us is that you're smart, alright?!"

"Y-You guys ... " Hotaru mumbles. "Uh ... food?"

Kakashi flashes them a bright eye-smile. "Well let's grab the money and you guys can go get cleaned up!"

"Do we get paid right away?" Monaka says, suddenly craving for some ramen.

"No, your sensei will turn in the money and you guys will turn in your mission reports" - he grabs something out his pocket and tosses them three scrolls - "and after tax is applied, we will all receive money."

All three stare at the scrolls with despair mixed in depression and deadpan.

"By the way, mission reports have to be turned in within a week after a mission. You should probably write them while you still remember."

The Genin groan.

Later, as they all start to separate from each other and head home, Sanada stops them.

"This morning, Monaka," she says with a hard to read expression. "What's the real reason why you were so bruised?"

The redhead gulps. "Well ... what I say?"

"Training."

"Then that's what happened! Just a little bruises from training, chunno!"

Hotaru looks uncertainly between the two. "Um ... Kakashi-sensei said t-to work together. W-We need to know ... if-if something's wrong ... "

"Nothing's wrong! You guys are just paranoid."

Sanada looks at Monaka with a hardened expression. "Fine. Let's leave, Hotaru. She'll eventually tell us, since she's such a loudmouth."

"Hmph!" Monaka hmphs. "I'm not sayin' nothing."

"Fine," Sanada says.

"Good," Monaka says. "Now if you excuse me, I need ta shave."

The Hyuuga turns red in the face. "M-M-Monaka-chan, you _shave_?!"

"No, but with all these feather everywhere, I might as well shave em!"

Sanada remembers how dirty she is ... by dirt. "I'm ... going to take a nice, long bath."

Hotaru smiles at the Uchiha. "L-Look on the bright side - you don't have to s-s-share the bath w-with anyone ... "

The Uchiha deadpans. "Feeling the love here, Hotaru."

Monaka doesn't understand the reply. "Shouldn't you say, like, they're all d - ?"

"Night," interrupts the other girl, and the three slowly split up for their homes.

•

The last thing Monaka wears for the second (or third counting the bell test) day of her Genin days is her hitai-ate.

Funny, that's usually her first thing and the goggles were second.

She eats a cup of lime-flavored ramen and reaches for the doorknob only to freeze.

 _Hey ... move, Monaka. What're you doing?_ Something cold - probably her stomach - makes her shiver. _You're gonna be late again, so go!_

Ignoring her heart that sounds like it might burst out her chest, she opens the door -

"Good morning," yawns something. "You're up earlier than expected."

Monaka blinks. It ... looks like a puppy. A bull dog? Pitbull? That's not important. The puppy wears blue clothing and has an extremely masculine voice.

Wait, it _talked_.

"You ... " breathes the redhead, "can speak?!"

"Yeah, some dogs do, some don't," says the puppy. "There's a reason for it, but you likely won't remember it."

 _Coool!_ Speaking of that, ever since she was let out her apartment to attend Academy and finally experience Konoha, she saw many shinobi with talking animals, but she always assumed it was her imagination. Cuz no matter how many times she talked to animals, they never spoke back.

"Wait. What're you doing in front of my apartment?"

"I'm your guide. It's my duty to get you to and fro your apartment to your meeting location in one piece."

"Oh, well, who sent ya, ch'no?"

"That's a secret. I'm Pakkun, and you are?"

The redhead shakes his (soft!) paw. "Monaka no last name! But having no last name makes you more charismatic, ch'no!" She smirks. "I've also been told that I look like that 'great seal mistress.'"

Pakkun observes her closely. "Beside your redhair ... you two don't look similar."

Monaka sweatdrops.

"Yup," continues the dog, "you're just not pale enough, or scary. That woman was terrifying. One moment she's sweet, but as soon as you make a comment about her hair, acting extremely disrespectful, or even doubted her for a second, you just got front row seats to the inside of a roof. She's the 'Red Hot Habanero' for a reason."

A cold jolt goes through Monaka. _T-T-Terrifying!_

"Yes, you're the complete opposite of scary. Almost underwhelming." Pakkun heads for the stairs. "Let's get a move on, little red."

Monaka follows behind the dog, slurping up her noodles. When she gets off the stairs, she sees the merchants setting up shop and when they see her, they glare.

Monaka winces when she feels their negative energy.

Pakkun starts to growl. "I am a ninja dog. If you mess with her, you're going to be zapped with my lightning jutsu."

The merchants immediately step out the way of the girl and her puppy.

When they're out of earshot, Monaka mumbles, "Can you _really_ do that?"

"No," Pakkun says, and Monaka relaxes. "But my owner can and will."

When they're close to the bridge, Pakkun stops moving. "This is where we part ways, little red."

Monaka feels a little sad to see him go. He's one of the few people she's had long conversations with. "I see ... "

"Don't worry, I'll see you tomorrow. And the next day. 'However long it takes until Monaka feels safe.' That's what my owner said."

The redhead grins. "Alright! See ya tomorrow, ch'no!"

Pakkun nods and disappears into a cloud of smoke. Meanwhile Monaka heads off to the bridge where Sanada is the first.

•

 **Post A/N: I ended it there because it felt just right. If I continued, it would've felt incomplete and I'd have to leave a cliffhanger.**

 **\- Here's a semi-quick one.**

 **Chibi Monaka results in two things: Monaka slices her chakra up at least 100 times, resulting in her clones receiving 1/100 of her chakra. To keep her from dying, she takes on a chibi form almost 1/10 of her original form. And the second reason: it's something wacky for a wacky story like this.**

 **Also, when she was younger, she didn't have enough chakra to keep the seal working on her own, so the Kyuubi did most of the work, resulting in this constant Killing Intent leaking out of her until she had enough chakra to get rid of the effect. That happened when she was 8, when she could support the seal on her own, as the seal uses both the human and bijuu to make it function. This also means if Monaka (if ever) gets chakra exhaustion, the Kyuubi's chakra will cycle more and it will result in constant Killing Intent leaking out of Monaka, but she can't really feel it.**

 **Finally, the Kyuubi has negative energy sensing and it's because of the aforementioned text that Monaka also has less specialized version of it herself.**

 **I'm thinking on making a website to keep track of all this information. Whewf.**

 **MISC: I think the original Naruto OP (opening) and ED (ending) would still play if this were a legit anime. Just, ya know, something to play to make this feel like an anime episode! Don't worry, I don't do this. I play whatever music is right for the scene or gets me motivated to write.**


	8. Episode 8, Genin Days Finale

Kakashi arrives on the bridge as usual, completing the team. "Yo!"

"You're _late_ ," Sanada and Monaka accuse in unison.

"Sorry, sorry. I was caught up watching the sunrise."

The two girls scowl. "The sunrise was hours ago!" shouts Monaka.

"I-I-I love s-sunrises," smiles Hotaru, making the two girls facepalm at his gullibility. "So many p-pretty colors b-blending into one a-another ... "

Kakashi eye-smiles. "Yup, my favorite color has to be pink, actually."

"Pink?!" Monaka blinks as if to clear her vision. "Liar! You don't like pink!"

"What's wrong with liking pink?"

"You're not a pink kinda guy, ch'no. You're more like" - she hmms in thought - "gray. Like old people hair."

" ... I'd say turquoise, honestly," Sanada mumbles.

"The heck's a 'tur - ' 'torq - '" Monaka shakes her head. "NEVERMIND!"

Hotaru observes their sensei. "I'd p-pick forest g-green."

"Quit talkin' about colors!" The redhead points at Kakashi. "Let's train!"

"About that ... " The Jounin leans casually on the railing. "You guys are so very young. You can't train hardcore because you'd die of chakra exhaustion."

All three jump slightly.

"What's - ?" Monaka starts to say.

"Chakra exhaustion?" he finishes. "Well, know this first. Every human has chakra within them, but the less you use chakra, the less you have and the less your body relies on it. By becoming shinobi, you conditioned your bodies to utilize and require chakra.

"So chakra exhaustion is a lot like bleeding out. If you have less than optimal circulating in you, your body can't function and you won't die instantly, but it'll _feel_ like it." He says that as if he experienced it. "Using it all up will cause you to die instantly. As I said, shinobi's bodies depend on chakra. If you remove all chakra from a civilian, nothing much'll happen."

The Genin absorb the information quietly.

Monaka decides to say, "If that's what chakra exhaustion is, I've never gotten it before, so I can keep training, ch'no."

"You probably just haven't pushed yourself hard enough."

"No, no - I've never hadda worry about how much chakra I had. Never ever."

Kakashi puts his hands in his pockets. _She's definitely got more chakra than most. Probably even more than me._ "No, the rule applies _especially_ to you."

Monaka huffs. "Well, why?"

"Because you have so much chakra, it takes longer than normal to regain it all. So you may not be so likely to get chakra exhaustion, but it's harder for you to reach your maximum chakra."

The redhead groans. "There's so many RULES in being a ninja!"

Kakashi scratches his head awkwardly. "I should know ... "

•

 **SHINOBI OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

 **Genin** **Days** **Arc**

 **Episode 8**

 **Rest Episode?! Competition and Competitiveness**

 **Synopsis** _: Kakashi tells his Genin to rest, and Team 7 goes on a mission. Monaka begins to realize if she doesn't start making small steps to her goal, her friends will beat her at being Hokage._

 _A/N: FYI, this is a sort of "rest" episode, like how episode 2 was for the original Naruto. I just wanted to establish more characters and world-build._ _ **Episode 9 begins the first, legitimate arc.**_ _No more page breaks until I get a computer; it's too glitchy._

 **April, 45 years NE**

 **Monaka: 10 years, 6 months**

 **Rewrote/Posted: 27 July, 2016**

•

Monaka can't wait until she gets a real mission. It's ridiculous that someone of her caliber has to do a bunch of odd jobs and chores until she's trusted enough for more important missions. She wouldn't mind so much if they were just more _fun_ , but they just have to be so completely annoying.

Under the hot Konoha sun, Kakashi guides them to their next mission, casually saying, "By the way, do you guys have your previous mission reports completed?"

Monaka jolts as if electrocuted and looks away while her teammates hand in theirs without hesitation.

Even though she's looking away, she can feel Kakashi's gaze, and hears him say, "Monaka? Are you not done yet?"

 _Crap! Is it my fault they're so boring, ch'no?!_ She thinks back to the blank scrolls somewhere within her house. "It's a work in progress," she states with false confidence. "I want them to be amazin', so the old man will give me better missions, ch'no!"

"So you're just a lazy procrastinator," the Uchiha states.

Monaka growls at her rival, who isn't the slightest bit intimidated. "You ... you ... bunny butt!"

"Huh?!"

"I said bunny butt, because your bun looks like a bunny's butt, butthead!"

" _You_ ... !" Sanada returns the glare, and the intensity between the two eyes is sharp enough to melt metal. She wants to call the redhead an idiot, but it wouldn't mean anything as Monaka already knows how foolish she is."Well, you're a weak hammer."

"Weak hammer?! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"If a hammer is _weak_ , a hammer can't do its job so it's _useless_. That's just like you."

"Oi!" Now she takes offense to that. "Be nice, bunny butt!"

"Weak hammer."

Kakashi watches them with an unreadable expression. Hotaru glances at his sensei who does nothing - _why?_ \- and assumes his sensei wants them to work out disputes themselves ... right?

 _Okay, you're strong. You can do this._ With that, the Hyuuga boy stands in the middle of the two. "Y-Y-You two, please stop!"

Monaka looks away from Sanada. "I was just fine until _someone_ insulted me by calling me a lazy proc ... proca ... whatever, ch'no."

Sanada looks away, too. "You're the most hated girl in Konoha. If you can't take an insult, how have you even _survived_ this long?"

Hotaru gaps and can no longer find any words to speak, but a sense of dread fills him. Kakashi continues to watch impassively.

Monaka's jaw drops open as she stares at Sanada, hurt in her blue eyes before anger replaces it. "That's cuz ... insults don't really hurt unless it's by someone you care about, chunno."

A breezes sweeps by, rustling thousands of tree leaves. The Uchiha now looks shocked, almost embarrassed. "Monaka ... " Her voice is barely audible among the leaves. "Well, I'm hated, too. I'm supposedly the spawn of the Uchiha traitors and of a genocidal brother. I'm insulted, too, but it's never hurt me. I've got only one mission in my life. I can't afford to be hurt."

The breeze comes to an end.

"Liar!"

Hotaru and Sanada blink in surprise.

"You wouldn't allow my comments to hurt you if can't afford not to care!" She remembers the negative energy she sensed in Sanada. "You care about us, but you're just rejecting us. I don't _understand_ that, chunno! I wish I had so many people who cared about me, but you turn them away like they're nothing! I really needa slap some sense into ya, bunny butt!"

 _Monaka-chan,_ Hotaru thinks, _and Sanada-chan are both so lonely. And all I can do hide behind a tree and faint._

 **Sanada closes her eyes in brief thought. "For someone so obsessed with Monaka, you sure don't know a lot about her, do you?"**

 _Was she also asking for me to understand her as well?_

"Okay, kiddies."

The three face their sensei, startled.

He scratches behind his ear. "We really need to make it to the mission location. I don't really mind being late, but this is one of the few times we kinda have to be early."

Team 7 proceeds forwards, the silence now awkward.

"You know," continues the Hatake, "your relationship is pretty hot and cold. I guess because there's a misunderstanding growing between you guys."

They don't reply.

"Do you guys know of the Distinguished Trio?"

Hotaru lets out an awkward chuckle. "It's all ... N-Neji-nii-san t-talks about w-w-when he's t-talking about destiny ... "

"I know as well," Sanada says. _And I'm not allowed to forget how the Uchiha betrayed Madara._

"I'm lost," mumbles Monaka, wiping her goggles.

"The trio was created during the Bushi-Nin War - war of the Samurai versus Shinobi. Hashirama-sama was of Senju, Madara-sama was of Uchiha, and Hiyomi-hime was of Hyuuga. They singlehandedly won the war and allowed shinobi population to thrive. They were so powerful, so strong - almost god-like, but they didn't stay together long.

"All three created their clans and Konoha. Hashirama-sama, the compassionate one in their group, became the First Hokage. Hiyomi-hime created the Hyuuga Clan before their tradition of branching families. Madara-sama created the Uchiha clan. So ... Madara-sama loved Hiyomi-hime, and Hashirama-sama supported their love, but Konoha did not. It wasn't natural, you see. If they were to have children, the natives thought that the child would have _both_ the Sharingan and Byakugan, and that the child would be permanently cursed, unable to be a Hyuuga or an Uchiha."

Hotaru and Sanada share a glance. Their faces are both pale.

"Hashirama-sama knew of these rumors, but gladly stated the child would have two loving families to honor them; two families to be united together. The Hyuuga and the Uchiha did not want that. As Hiyomi-hime and Madara-sama were both leaders of their clan, they couldn't love each other. A rift grew between them no matter how much Hashirama-sama believed in their love and believed their child would be especially blessed. Soon, Hiyomi-hime left Konoha, and Madara-sama kept almost no contact with Hashirama-sama, until he, too, went missing one day."

"That's ... sad," Monaka says.

"Uh-huh, but I over simplified it. Perhaps there was more going on," Kakashi says with a sigh.

Both Hotaru and Sanada remain quiet, each of them _knowing_ the other is aware about the story from their clan's share of the events.

"I have to admit, there's even some controversy going on with two potential clan heads being on the same team and also opposite genders," Kakashi slips way too casually.

"Eh?!"

Hotaru's face turns red. _Wait! I don't love anyone! I'm too busy for love!_

"I don't love this wannabe princess over here!" Sanada shouts, cheeks pink. "I've got more important things to do!"

The redhead chuckles. "I ship it! So, so, so! What's your ship name? Is it _Hotasana_ or _Sanahota_ , chunno?"

"How about I tie you to a tree? I've still got some wire left." Sanada glares at Monaka, who only laughs harder.

Kakashi eye-smiles and catches sight of the library: the mission location. Boy Monaka whined when she heard she had to be quiet.

He takes out his orange book. _I sincerely hope Hotaru keeps all his attention on Monaka._

 _•_

 **"Kakashi, do you have any idea why Orochimaru would do this?" the Hokage said, smoking from his pipe inside the dark office where the midnight moon shone into his office, creating hauntingly long shadows.**

 **Kakashi sat on the armrest of a sofa, half in darkness, half in light. "Sounds a lot like the Distinguished Trio, doesn't it? The whole Hiyomi-Madara scandal?"**

 **The Hokage took in a sharp breath. "That. I've completely forgotten about that incident. But Orochimaru has always wanted immortality. Why this nonsense?"**

 **"I don't know. Maybe he's working for someone else. They must have some enticing offer."**

 **"Yes, I think so, too. Whoever requested his service must have the power to control death. We must find out who that person is."**

 **" ... you think Orochimaru might try to kidnap Monaka again?"**

 **"I'm more worried about Sanada and Hotaru. Monaka is very strong indeed, and with the Kyuubi inside her, Orochimaru knows it isn't wise to catch her again."**

 **"Well, I'll do my best to make sure they get strong, alright, old man?"**

 **"Thank you, but you must hurry. Danzou has made a plan to take Monaka as his apprentice. I know it's for Root, but there's no evidence I can accuse him by."**

 **Monaka, that bright little sunshine a coldblooded murder? Kakashi shivered. "Right. I'll make all of them strong."**

 **•**

Monaka has found she absolutely despises libraries. They're too quiet, the books smell like glue, the scrolls - though they have pretty designs - roll off shelves easily, and everytime she makes one, semi-loud noise, the librarian shushes her for it.

She would ask help from her teammates, but she doesn't want to talk to them.

She hears someone walk through the door, and peeks around a shelf curiously. It's -

 _Kiba._ He barely looks any different. He has a few bruises and scars, and his coat has a few tiny holes. He smells like dogs and of nature, with a little bit of spring flowers - possibly because of Sakura. When Monaka jogs up to her friend, she notices he feels stronger somehow and wonders if she does too.

"Kiba?"

"Shhhh!"

Monaka gives the librarian a grumpy glare. "Yo, Kiba, what're you up to?"

Kiba blinks. His eyes immediately flicker to her hitai-ate. "You're still a ninja! That's a relief."

"What?"

"Kurenai-sensei said Kakashi fails all his teams. I almost thought you weren't gonna make it."

"Heheh, I almost didn't. He said he was gonna fail us, ch'no, and we proved him wrong at the last second." She grins.

"Awesome! That's my little red!" Akamaru wags his tail in agreement. "So, a mission in here, huh?"

"Yup. Super boring ... "

"I'm looking for a book that says ... " He reads something he wrote on his palm. " _The Pleb's Guide to Teaching._ Is that in stock?"

She sweatdrops. "Why d'you need _that_?"

"Long story. Sakura's been kissing up to the Hokage, 'n' I told her I was gonna be Hokage first. So I asked him what I needed to do to be Hokage. He said I needed to create something so amazing, it'll change Konoha for the better. So I decided to open my own Academy."

Monaka tries to smile. _An Academy?! That's BRILLIANT! He's totally gonna be Hokage at this rate, doofus!_ "What kind of Academy?"

Kiba grins and pats Akamaru who lies on his head as usual. "What else? A Ninken Academy!"

Ninja dogs, or _ninken_ , is mostly an Inuzuka dominated field, though some other shinobi also use ninken. However, almost all receive their dogs from Inuzuka.

"My academy will be held for everyone and anyone! I'll take in old dogs and make them better, I'll take in normal pups and train 'em - heck, some of the teachers'll be dogs! I want everyone to come to my Ninken Academy and show them dogs are man's companion!"

Fireworks shoot out from behind Kiba; Akamaru _howls_ as the music swells ... Monaka can see Kiba's successful academy right behind him!

Or maybe Monaka is imagining that, because the librarian doesn't tell them to shut up.

"That's ... really neat, ya know!" Monaka says genuinely. "But, I'm mad cuz I'm gonna be Hokage someday, and you'll beat me at this rate!"

"Shhh!"

 _Shhh! to you, too!_

"Thanks! Hana helped me with the idea. She's a vet, you know."

"A veteran?"

"A veterinarian."

Monaka scowls. "You _know_ I can't say that."

" _Mo - na - ka_ , since you cannot keep your voice _quiet_ , why don't you go around the village collecting due books? You can be as loud as you want," the librarian says.

Kiba snickers. "Adults, amiright?"

"Bye, Kiba," Monaka says and she walks up to the (huge) desk and grabs the location list.

She reads the routes until her eyes land on a familiar one. _The Haruno House._

 _•_

Haruno Sakura wears a few bandages on her body. During the almost week she's been with her team, they've been training in cooperation or taking on missions. She also got Yuuhi Kurenai, her sensei, to privately teach her genjutsu - to which she gets the hang of easily.

 _I hope Sanada-chan notices my strength! Then we could fight side-by-side as equals, and her coolness would rub off on me!_ Sakura idolizes the Uchiha just a bit more than her best friend Yamanaka Ino. Ino already recognizes her - she initiated their friendship. But Sanada has always been popular and strong, yet she pushes everyone away. Logically, the Uchiha must want someone _worthy._

Sakura, in the middle of wrapping a fresh bandage over her bruised knee on her bed, pauses. _The Uchiha Massacre. It seems as if our parents kept that truth from us; we kids were too self-centered to notice, but we all noticed Sanada's disappearance. Then she came back entirely different._

She feels sorry that someone she cares about has to suffer through that. But she also feels curious - _why_ did it happen? Even the Haruno wouldn't ask that to Sanada. Perhaps when she grew older ...

"Sakura! Someone's here for you!"

Sakura wraps her knee in a bandage and hops out her room on one leg. " _Coming._ "

She gets to the entrance and sees red and orange.

Monaka beams. "Gooood afternoon, Sakura-sensei - I mean Sakura-chan!"

"Monaka ... ? Here for _The_ _Gutsy Nin -_ " Sakura sees the hitai-ate around her head. _She made it! Grr, why was I even worried?!_ "Wait, why do you keep calling me 'Sakura-chan?'"

"Er, wouldn't that be embarrassing havin' someone like me call you sensei?"

The Haruno shakes her head. "Uh, no. You're the most knuckle-headed, hyperactive, unpredictable ninja ever, but you'rea _shinobi_ now, thanks to my help. Therefore I don't really mind you calling me sensei."

Sakura watches as Monaka slowly breaks out in grin and sparkling eyes like a puppy. She's even more shocked when the redhead tackles her into a hug, and it's only because Monaka is lighter than the girl that she doesn't fall down. "H-Hey, quit that!"

Monaka remains oblivious to her sensei who doesn't return the hug out of sheer embarrassment. "I think you're becoming my second friend, chunno~!"

The Haruno sighs and lets Monaka hug her. "So I'm second after Kiba, eh?"

" ... no, not Kiba. We were never really close, yanno. I thought he was cool for his pranks, and he taught me a few before I ... changed."

Sakura flushes. Appearances can be deceiving. "Then ... who's your first friend?"

Monaka lets go, avoiding her eyes with red cheeks. " ... you have to keep it a secret, Sakura-sensei."

"Right. I solemnly swear to keep whatever you say secret." She means it, too.

"Okay. My ... first friend is that grumpy octopus Sanada."

"EHH?!" Sakura's shriek frightens the little redhead. "S-Sanada-chan?!"

An image flickers in her head. _Sakura, you're annoying._ There's no way that genjutsu Sanada is the real Sanada, right? "H-How Sanada-chan?!"

"Um, well, uh ... " Blue eyes see the library's scroll. She opens it. "Ah! I'm here for your due books, Sakura-sensei!"

As soon as the Haruno hears "books," she forgets the past. "Oh, I was going to turn 'em in today." With that, Sakura grabs a stack of books on the shelf within the entrance. "Here! _Konoha's Guide to the Four Noble Clans,_ check!" She slides the book to a pale Monaka. " _Land of Fire's Hidden Petal Village: Remains of a War Ground. The Four Hokage. The Controversy of Imprisonment._ And finally: _The Legendary Sarutobi._ All here."

Monaka makes a face while putting the thick, hardcover books into the metal cart she's been carrying around all day. "Just exactly why're you reading these, ch'no?"

"Duh. To familiarize myself with the foundations that enabled Konoha to exist." Sakura speaks with her upmost teacher tone.

... the redhead deadpans. "You're _ten._ "

"And I'm not getting any younger. Look, each book is very important. The first not so obvious one is the Hidden Village that arose from the very first battle: the Distinguished Trio and the samurai. The second: what the Hokage were known for and why they were chosen. Third: Konoha's ongoing debate on whether or not prisons should be made for shinobi."

Monaka grumpily rolls the scroll and walks back to her cart. "Jails're for bad guys, right? Just put 'em there."

"That _should_ be true, but with Mizuki-sensei and the Fourth Hokage's actions, prison doesn't seem right for shinobi. I mean, shinobi are always one fall away from instability - a licensed murderer and instability do not go well."

" _Wait._ The Fourth Hokage was in jail, ch'no?!"

Sakura finally notices the intense look Monaka gives her. The girl's eyebrows are furrowed and her fists are tight. "Y-Yeah ... same guy who saved Konoha all those years ago - "

"Why was he in _jail_?!"

"U-Um ... demolishing an active, orphan hospital."

Monaka's jaw drops. " ... wh-why?"

"Oh, Monaka, he wasn't Hokage yet. And rumors have it he was _framed._ No one saw his presence that night; all his yearmates said he was on a mission. Although it is suspicious his scent and chakra were detected at the scene, we're shinobi - masters of deception. That ambiguity only gave Lord Fourth two-year house arrest on little chakra."

Sakura sees Monaka loosen her fists and a bit of light shines in her eyes. "Oh. Awesome! No way a dude like that could destroy a hospital, ch'no!"

"Yup!" Sakura smiles with her eyes closed.

 _Geez I hate makin' her sad, but was I said was truth._

"Well, Sakura-sensei, I'll be off, but you and Kiba should know I'm gonna get strong. Cuz I'm going to surpass the Fourth Hokage, ch'no." She turns and looks at the Hokage Mountain that rises above them all.

 _This guy shoved the Kyuubi in me. I don't really get why it's me ... I can't believe somebody would destroy a hospital just to frame him. If he didn't give up his dream, then I won't either!_

Playing with her ponytail ribbon, Sakura watches Monaka smile, obviously thinking hard about something, but her orange goggles blocks her eyes. A gentle breeze blows Sakura's hair into her face and Monaka's short hair that can get pass her blocky goggles.

 _That red hair. She looks so much like the seal mistress. Could she be ... ? Or what if there was another Uzumaki out there still alive from the Uzushio Fall?_

"HaHAH! I got it!"

What in the - ?! "Got what?"

"Kiba was going to create a Ninken Academy to become Hokage, and you got your smarts, ch'no! So I'm gonna make an Academy of my own!"

"NINKEN ACADEMY?! Why that little - " Sakura growls. "Uh, YOU'RE making an Academy as well?!"

Monaka beams. "I'll call it: The Chunno Academy!"

 _The ..._

 _The ..._

"SERIOUSLY?! You have lost all RIGHT to call me 'Sakura-sensei' in public!"

The redhead flinches. "H-Huh?!"

"First off, CHUNNO HAS NO MEANING. And, what're you gonna TEACH? Where is this located, location capacity, location storage - You didn't even ASK if I wanted to be a sensei!"

"Woah! I just came up with it a second ago ... "

Sakura places her fists on her hips. "So irresponsible. And now Kiba's creating something like that. Well this battle ain't _over._ I _hate to lose_!"

Monaka can almost see the fire coming out her eyes and mouth. She starts to push her cart and hop on to the bottom shelf as the cart moves by itself. "W-W-Well, see ya, Sakura-chan?"

"Huh?" The pink haired blinks into reality where Monaka is almost out of sight. " ... Monaka running something? This can't go well." Sakura looks up to gauge the sun's position. "Agh! Almost late for training! Sorry, Monaka, you'll have to wait a bit."

•

Hatake Kakashi eye-smiles. "Great job, kids. And you didn't even get a single papercut."

His three Genin watch their sensei with less than pleased expressions, holding another mission scroll.

Monaka sweats nervously. _Oh man ... this is the FOURTH one, and I don't even remember what the other three missions were!_

"So where did you go today, Kakashi?" Sanada states, gaining the attention of her teammates.

"Me?"

"D-Ranks are only for Genin. Where does a Jounin go?"

Monaka snickers. "Prolly to read that dumb book."

"Sometimes," the Jounin admits. "But I've got an important meeting with the Hokage today, so I'm afraid there won't be any missions, unless you grab the mission yourselves."

Hyuuga Hotaru sighs. " ... m-meetings, right?"

"I think I'll spend the rest of today training and _not_ doing menial tasks," Sanada states, starting to walk off.

"Well, _I'll_ spendthe day not takin' myself seriously, ch'no."

The Uchiha scowls over her shoulder; Monaka sticks her tongue out.

"Um, I-I-I don't w-want to ... go h-home so early ... " Hotaru plays with his jacket's sleeves.

"Whatever you three do, don't let it be the tree exercise. Rest is just as important as training. Your bodies are young and unconditioned - you'll likely cause irreversible damage that could ruin your career."

\- _not that being a ninja so young is a_ good _career. Actually ... it might be better if they_ do _hurt themselves._

Kakashi looks at the cloudless sky in thought before he redirects his attention to his team ... which is only an awkward Hotaru.

"Where'd they go?"

"L-Left," he replies. "I don't k-know what to do - "

"Well, see ya later, Hotaru. I'm sure you'll find something on your own." Kakashi vanishes from the clearing.

Hotaru blinks at the spot where his sensei stood. "Uh, okay, s-see you?"

•

 _Guess the only way to make an Academy is to GO to an Academy!_

Monaka zips through clotheslines and from rooftops to the all too familiar Academy. For a second, Mizuki-sensei crosses her mind, but she shakes the memory away.

The Academy is officially out, but it still holds an entrance exam for next year students. Typically, the Academy begins in late May with spring being associated with beginnings and the "faux new year;" early April is the end. Students attend school for 200 days - breaks including the six-week vacation, winter vacation, and _Kannazuki_. In Monaka's case, she recorded -17 days in her last year.

She honestly does not know how that happened.

She hops on a rooftop close to the Academy and sees kids in the playground eating, joking, practicing. She even sees that old swing set where Iruka-sensei agreed to fix her goggles.

 _Nostalgia_ builds in her chest.

"Whaddya know? I miss this place!" With a huge grin, she hops off the roof and lands in the sandbox. Sand floats everywhere - caking the three other kids with it.

Monaka is mostly okay, with her goggles covering her eyes and all. She shakes off the dust. "Blah! It tastes like yucky powder!"

"That's what - " cough, cough "- it _is_!"

As the sand settles down, Monaka sees three kids. One has a large scarf and helmet, the other has glasses, the third is a girl with impressive hair. They had to be at least six years old.

"Who're you guys?" says the redhead.

The glasses boy coughs. "Greetings. I am Udon, that is Moegi, and - "

" _I'm_ Sarutobi Konohamaru, y'hear!" The scarf boy shouts his name waaay too loud. Monaka rubs her ringing ears.

"You needa take off that helmet - it's messing with your hearing," she grumbles with shut eyes.

"OI! You're pretty GUTSY to be sayin' those things ta me!"

"S'not like you're special ch'no."

Udon and Moegi gasp. Konohamaru blinks.

"You don't know who I am?"

Monaka shakes her head. "Never had the best memory, chunno."

The child (dramatically) clears his throat. "Grandson of the Third Hokage! Member of the Sarutobi Clan! Known as the 'Honorable Grandson!' I am KONOHAMARU OF KONOHA, y'hear!"

"Oh, cool!" says the redhead brightly. "Two dummies with speech problems! Nice to meet you, ch'no! It's great meeting someone short than me!"

Udon sniffles. "And then there were two."

Moegi smiles. "It's great to have such a colorful person here! Tell me, tell me, what shade of red did you use to dye your hair?"

Monaka jolts. "It's NOT fake! It's real!" She pulls on her short red hair for emphasis. "Real!"

Konohamaru inhales. "Wait a sec - fake red hair, those weird birthmarks, stupidity - "

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

"That's MONAKA!"

"Huh?" _I'm ... famous?_

Moegi makes an excited noise like a squeak. "She's the girl who used that _Oiroke no Jutsu_ , isn't she? Mean ol' Yama-sensei quit teaching because she flashed him at the onsen!"

Monaka ... pales so much, she looks almost blue. _I ... don't remember that._

Udon wipes his glasses off. "Ah, yes, I do believe so! She's the **perverted ninja**!"

 _Ehhhh?!_

Monaka imagines wearing the Hokage's robes for her coronation day (still with her ten year old appearance). _The Fifth and first female Hokage, Monaka, the pervert ninja!_

 _Waaah! I can't be known for somethin' like that! No one's gonna be afraid of me inna battle unless they're younger than 12!_

"Woah, you guys're wrong, ch'no! I'm not _perverted_ , those guys who react to me are perverted! _I'm_ the, uh, prankster ninja! Yeah! I'm even making an academy for pranks: the Chunno Academy!"

 _... pranks are hardly going to make me Hokage. Baka Monaka._

"Oh, I see." Konohamaru rubs his chubby chin. "That jutsu was a prank! So you gotta know more than just that, right?"

Monaka looks at three eager faces and feels her heart fluttering. "Well ... course I do! I've got all kinds of stuff! But you hafta join my Academy in order to join me on my pranks, ch'no!"

Three wannabe shinobi eagerly plead to join the "Chunno Academy."

•

Elsewhere, Kakashi stops in midstep before the mission desk where the Third Hokage and a man with pitch black sunglasses plus a bandana sit.

"Kakashi?" says the Hokage.

"I sense a great disturbance," Kakashi replies solemnly.

Sunglasses-guy shivers. "I get that _aaaallll_ the time when someone mixes ramen and milk." The man - who sits on top of the mission desk - juggles money received from a mission. "Who _does_ that?"

Kakashi gives the man a weird look while the Hokage says, "You're early for once, Kakashi. I wonder if _that_ is the disturbance you feel."

"Wait a minute - you said, Hokage-sama, it's at ten? It's eleven now."

"Oh, did I? Old age is getting to me - I meant one o'clock, but since you're here, we may begin the chat in private."

Kakashi gives Sarutobi Hiruzen an unreadable expression.

•

"I'm home."

Uchiha Sanada locks the door behind herself and removes her shoes. What greets her is her faint echo through the empty house. She wasn't awaiting a response; it feels rude not to repeat that word she's said for so many years.

She walks through her house, stopping in her kitchen. She grabs instant noodles and places it inside the microwave. While it heats up, Sanada changes out of her dirty, ripped clothes from training and wears pajamas.

Soon she sits at the table with chopsticks and her smoky meal, meat and spices filling the air. The heat turns her cold cheeks red.

"Let's eat."

She says this to no one. But she keeps her voice down so that she can't hear her voice.

"Thank you for the meal."

Sanada throws away her meal. Her stomach feels warm yet full.

"I-I'm home ... "

Aside from the tree leaves rustling in the breeze and some of the branch family roaming about, Hotaru's home is quiet. Hotaru removes his shoes at the entrance and slips into house shoes as he roams his large, traditional home looking for any of his family members.

The first place he checks is the family room, despite rarely going there. The room only holds a brilliant view of the Hokage Mountain as well as pillows for sitting. Next he checks his little sister's room. Hyuuga Hanabi isn't in her room - she doesn't like staying alone, so she must be having fun with friends.

Next, Hotaru looks in his cousin's, Hyuuga Neji, room. The main house only supports the main family and the branch family members who are required to protect the main family consisting of the Clan Head Hyuuga Hiashi (former protector and twin brother: Hizashi), and his children Hotaru (protector: Neji) and Hanabi (protector: Zenmai).

Neji's room has very few things. Whatever can be seen is neat and orderly. Although, Hotaru spots a few storage scrolls he knows Neji doesn't use and a green outfit thrown in a corner.

He shuts Neji's door and sighs. " ... where is everyone?"

"Ah, Hotaru-sama, welcome home!"

Hotaru jumps and focuses on the girl with the nervous voice. The girl has light brown hair in a bun with the usual pitch-white eyes of a Hyuuga; on her forehead is a blue seal: the Caged Bird Seal all branch family members hold. However, Hotaru's white eyes are slightly lavender just as Hanabi's eyes are slightly pinkish. It _used_ to be odd, now everyone is used to them.

"I-I'm Kinoko, by the way." She bows a little. "I was supposed to catch you at the door, but I started dancing with the broom again ... " Kinoko chuckles.

 _I wish I could do that ..._ But as the Byakugan can see through anything, there's much pressure on Hotaru to always maintain his composure no matter where he is. "I-I-It's okay ... "

"Kay, I've gotta a lot of facts, Hotaru-sama. Firstly, Hanabi-sama is helping at the Academy with the kids along with her friends, Hiashi-sama is off meeting with the Four ... well, Three Noble Clans of Konoha. Neji-kun is off on a C-Rank mission, so you won't see him for a while. And, um ... " Kinoko snaps. "Ah! Hitoe-sama is going to train you!"

Hotaru was depressed knowing Neji left without telling him, but hearing his _grandmother's name_ \- his father's mother - he blanches. "Gr-Grandma Hitoe?!"

 **"Oy vey, Hocchan! If you're going to cry about it, I'll double it!"**

 **Hotaru is forced to lift half his body weight to strengthen his arms and chest for Hyuuga taijutsu. Only on the twentieth number, tears pool in the corner of his eyes.**

 **"I-I-I'm not cr-crying, ma'am! It's j-just sweat, so ... "**

 **"You're not** _ **that**_ **heavy, you baby. You're 50 pounds soaking wet. On a good day."**

 **He looks up to give his grandmother a puppy dog face, only to see a slightly wrinkled woman within a royal purple kimono hanging off her thin body slightly, to see black hair and** _ **deadly**_ **white eyes.**

 **"Hocchan," says Hyuuga Hitoe. "Quit** _ **giving up**_ **so easily! 50 more, now!"**

Hotaru gulps. _Grandma Hitoe's almost impossible training or Neji-nii-san's spars? I can't decide ..._ "Th-Thank you for letting me know, Kinoko-san."

"Uh, sure, but - " Kinoko looks around the two of them before bringing a hand over her mouth. "Can I watch you train?"

"Huh?"

"Uh, well, y'know we branch family folks can't become shinobi unless we're dudes, but, um, my brother, Zenmai, he protects your sister."

His eyes widen. _This is his sister?_

Kinoko pouts. "Zenmai won't teach me. He says he's worried that I'll be outcast for being _taboo_ \- after all, the men protect us and the main family while we women clean, make silk and kimono, and be ' _neither seen nor heard_ ,' as they say."

As a former heir-in-training, Hotaru understands how his clan operates.

The Hyuuga are composed and cool people, not for the outside world, but from within. Very few places block the Byakugan, so the Hyuuga are always on-guard. The Uchiha Clan didn't have to worry about that; the clan was composed only through its arrogance. Whereas the Hyuuga, Konoha's strongest clan, only needed to appear cool to serve its reputation, the Uchiha Clan constantly pumped shinobi into ANBU, Root, and the Police Force under the assumption that the more Konoha needs them, the more strength they had.

Unlike the Hyuuga, most didn't have the Sharingan. Most were normal people who could not compare to the Hyuuga. Few people were exceptional - Madara, Itachi, Shisui, for example.

The Hyuuga Clan is divided into the main family and branch family. The members of the latter are branded with the Caged Bird Seal under the reason that the Byakugan must remain in the Hyuuga control. The seal deactivates the Byakugan upon death. The main family - a small family - are trained from their birth to be strong, but once their eighteenth birthday hits, they become eligible to be an heir. Then their duty is to look good and keep the clan from collapsing in on itself.

The branch family men all become shinobi to fight for the main family, but if the man is weak, unable to continue his career, or disobedient, they will suffer the same destiny the women takes on: kimono work, cleaning, preparing ointments for hospitals, using their Byakugan for examining patient's bodies, and having little to no say in the politics of the clan.

If Hanabi had been born the same day Hotaru was, she would be branded the seal upon Hotaru's third birthday and sent to become a simple maid. But because she wasn't, there is no power struggle and both siblings can remain in the branch house, however if Hanabi doesn't become an heiress, all her children will be immediately sent to the branch family while Hotaru's children are automatically within the main family (provided his wife does not have twins or triplets, etc). Vice versa is true. If enough people declare it, main family members can be demoted to branch family members. Only if the main family has no successor can a branch family member join the main family.

To Hotaru, the whole branch scenario is ridiculous. The reason for it satisfies most as there are _plenty_ of side members, but Hotaru knows deep down there has to be another reason for it. So much thought has went into the two families - too much for it to be brushed off.

"You c-can watch me train, Kinoko-san," Hotaru says.

"Really?! Thank you, Hotaru-sama! You know, everyone may hate you or think you're stupidly weak - "

Ouch

" - but I think you're awesome, sir!" Kinoko bows and skips away to resume her cleaning.

Hotaru's ego is a little bit bruised ...

"Let's eat."

Hotaru eats a fancy meal made with white china decorated by dragons. He bows to the chef (who gets flustered) and begins dinner. It's not the same without his family with him. His grandparents are old and have dinner carried to them, his father ate at the meeting, Hanabi prefers late night snacking rather than full meals, and Neji is gone.

The food starts to taste like rubber as Hotaru slows down. _I hope he remains safe._

"Thank you for the meal."

Branch members clean up the table with ease while Hotaru heads to his room, stomach full yet his heart is heavy.

•

Sanada grabs her towel for the bath: a fluffy towel that she can also put on her head when drying her hair, and it's as if she's wearing cat ears! No matter how frustrated she becomes, the towel always makes her smile.

Before she leaves her room, she looks at her futon she needs to set up, but her eyes trail to Itachi's unused futon still huddled into a corner. His futon is bigger and more cozy than hers. In fact, she remembers all the times she would jump in his futon ... before he changed.

 _I will kill Uchiha Itachi._

Her foot kicks the futon before her brain registers it. Itachi's spare ANBU mask and ANBU vest fail onto the floor.

Her heart shivers.

She remembers when she used to wear his vest that was way too big for her, but it was still so much fun pretending to be apart of ANBU in any way. She can probably fit into the outfit more easy now. So ... Sanada finds herself placing on his mask and vest. As she thought, it's still a little too big for her. Looking in the mirror, she's no longer Uchiha Sanada, but _Neko_ , "Cat."

There are very few differences between Sanada and Itachi once they both wear masks.

 _No. I'm not a murderer._

Sanada drops her bath towel and heads outside under the starry sky to practice her wire, her bukijutsu, strength and endurance training, but most of all, to practice the routines she once saw Itachi do.

 _I am not weak. I am strong._

 _•_

For a Hyuuga, sight is everything. Much of their other senses are rather dull in exchange for exceptional directional skills and eyes that notice minute things, countless of colors that are the slightest shade from another, and far away things. Hotaru doesn't hear giggling at all until he nears Hanabi's room.

Her door is slightly open, most likely because she hates the dark. Curious, Hotaru peeks through the gap rather than activating his Byakugan (as it creates a world of white and blue shades).

Hanabi is speaking to their father Hiashi with obvious joy. Hiashi sits at the edge of her pink bed stuffed with cuddly-cute animals.

"Granny Hitoe's gonna give me presents?" Hanabi is saying. "I hope it's something cute like a new kimono, or a sweet perfume~!"

"Now, now, you still are a shinobi in your last year. If you get too 'girly,' you will not want to fight."

"You can be totally cute and still kick butt, Dad!" She grins cheekily. "Look! These hands are not only super, super soft but they can also knock you out with one hit!"

Hiashi laughs a little. "Good to see you're ready for the world, but you must sleep."

"Peh, I don't need sleep. Sleep needs _me_."

Hiashi tucks her in; Hanabi holds her stuffed rabbit and frog. "G'night, Dad."

"Goodnight, Hanabi."

Hotaru - quietly, nimbly - races to his dark room and grabs his thick book he got on the day he met Sakura and Monaka at Ichiraku's.

 _I'm really happy for Hanabi-chan ..._ He definitely doesn't regret saving her. He does wish he handled that Kumo shinobi better, but he does not regret fighting for her.

 _Monaka-chan wants me to become heir anyways. Her words were nice and sincere, but I don't know if I'm that strong. I'm so weak._

"Hotaru."

Again, Hotaru almost feels his heart in his throat. His father leans on the door frame with crossed arms. "U-U-Um, hello, Dad ... How's the m-m-meeting?"

Hotaru breaks eye contact while Hiashi keeps his even. "Fine. We mainly discussed the controversy between an Uchiha and Hyuuga teammate pair. That hasn't happened for almost ... forty or so years now."

"I-I see ... "

"You should sleep soon. Don't you have a team to work for tomorrow?"

Hotaru touches his hitai-ate still on his neck. "Yes."

"Then, goodnight, Hotaru."

" ... goodnight, Dad."

Hotaru relaxes as soon as Hiashi shuts the door all the way. He runs a hand through his bluish-black hair.

To be the heir or not to be the heir - that is the question. If Kakashi could hear this pun, he would be proud.

•

 **I feel like I should put something down here because it's almost becoming a tradition now! Definitely thinking about making a website for this, cuz there's a lot of info.**

 **Little tidbits: Hotaru stutters a whole lot. I don't think I made it clear enough why, so in this story, Hotaru has to be a man. When he was kidnapped, it shattered his self-confidence and spirit. And his family shaming his weakness on the day he was officially announced to lead the clan burned the rest of it. Neji constantly berates him for being so weak, Hanabi kicked his butt and is now technical heiress, plus bullies bullied him, too. So that's why he stutters a whole bunch.**

 **I hope I didn't make him a Woobie (*TV tropes reference), because that's what Hinata's storyline is in canon, 'cept we all know how flat and boring her character became. And if you've seen the Boruto manga, she became flat in more ways than one.**

 **That's kinda why I made Hotaru a main character, because Hinata is such a lame character with "Naruto-kun!" Hotaru obviously has his "Monaka-chan!" moments, but he's 10, and he's the third main character, so I intend on making his character more developed. I also made him a dude because I didn't think you guys would like having an all girls team ... but if you did, I made Hotaru act and look like a girl.**

 **Also, about Monaka and Sanada's relationship as of now. Monaka can sense the negative energy in Sanada, and so she wants to help her, but Sanada's pride and her pride make her always tease or insult her because Monaka is afraid to admit she really cares. Monaka wants to beat Sanada less because she's stronger than her, and more because she's so similar to herself, and if she can beat Sanada, she can definitely help her.**

 **Sanada didn't really like Monaka until she lost everything. Monaka came up to her one evening, and ever since then, she's been watching Monaka because she** _ **knows**_ **the girl is smarter than she seems, but she doesn't want Monaka to know she cares about her. But via the Academy test, she's important in Sanada's journey to becoming strong. Plus, she definitely can't admit she cares about the redhead because of Itachi, and because Itachi said she needed** _ **those eyes**_ **and that she must** _ **kill her friend**_ **.**

 **Next arc: Of Snow and Sacrifices. Synopsis: the first C-Rank. This won't be the usual Zabuza and Haku - they appear later in the story when the characters are their canon age: 12. And it's not likely Team 7 will get this mission ...**

 **Thanks for reading this, nonetheless! Hope you guys don't mind my theories and headcanons in this chapter ~ but it's going to get worse because we're heading somewhere (in canon) with** _ **little**_ **development.**


End file.
